


Love and Genocide (Septiplier) (18+)

by ThePhoenixofHumanity



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Undertale Fusion, F/F, F/M, Genocide, Inspired By Undertale, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-08-28 02:34:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 37,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8427907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePhoenixofHumanity/pseuds/ThePhoenixofHumanity
Summary: Jack has been unhappy with being the Savior of the Underground. Monsters have been beaten, denied access to public places, jumped...this isn't what they thought the surface would be like. Jack hates what he has done to people he called friend and family.Enter Mark, a mysterious voice in Jack's mind. Mark hates humanity and monsters alike. But he loves Jack. Yes...he loves his Baby Boy. And hates seeing him sad. Mark will do anything to make Jack happy, and will do anything to convince Jack of the truth: Killing the monsters is the only way to make them truly happy. Jack can send them to a better place. Not just these monsters, but others too. Mark can show him how.Will Jack resist? Or will Mark take full control?





	1. Curiosity Over Morals

**Author's Note:**

> Undertale AU-esque stories are probably really common, but I couldn't resist doing this. It was inspired by...my evil mind.

It was something of a ritual for them. To watch the sunset every Friday. No matter what they were doing or what they had to do, they always made time for their ritual. It brought them closer together. As a family. With all the new changes they experienced, it was nice to have a little piece of serenity for them to enjoy with each other's company. Even with their news lives, they made time to remember those who brought them where they were today.  
"Beautiful," Jack whispered, watching as the sky changed colors.

"I know I am darling," Mettaton joked, slinging an arm around Jack. "And it's thanks to you that the world gets to see this beauty."

Jack chuckled, watching the sun dip beneath the horizon. All of this, because of him...Jack wasn't sure if this was real, or just a dream. Only a little while ago had he been wandering around, thinking about ending it all...his home life had been crap, his parents were assholes, he wasn't allowed to see his siblings anymore...he just didn't really have anything. When he walked out, he just...walked. He walked off and let his feet carry him around. When he came to Mt. Ebbott, he decided that maybe ending it there would have been the best, since no one cared about him anymore. But when he jumped...he found himself alive, in a strange new place.

Of course, he didn't trust Flowey as soon as he met the plant, and did his best to avoid him even if the little flower did teach him how things worked. So he wasn't too surprised when Flowey turned all evil on him. Had it not been for Toriel, he would've been dead.

He looked over at Toriel, who was giggling at some joke Sans probably told her. Jack felt terrible when he saw that Toriel was just trying to care for him, and he left the Ruins. He had truly wanted to stay with her, and have the mother he never had.  But...despite it all, he didn't want burden anyone else with his nonsense; Toriel didn't need a burden like Jack in her life, and that was what he was convinced of when he made his decision to leave. Tori had been sad to let him leave, but he had to. Then, the adventure began. It wasn't supposed to be an adventure, as Jack was constantly trying to find ways to off himself, but he had ended up meeting good people that became his friends and he reasoned that he couldn't just abandon them. He could bring himself to end his life after finding a new meaning to it. Between meeting Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Mettaton, and other monsters, he actually felt...like he had a purpose. He actually felt like people needed him. So, with his Determination, he had to make sure he made the people who took care of him happy, even at the cost of his own soul. And he managed to break the Barrier and return the monsters to the surface. 'The Savior of the Underground' as he was called when they arrived. All monsters spoke of him as a legend.

But he didn't feel like one.

Instead, he felt like a failure.

People, with or without magic, were the problem. Humanity. They didn't treat monsters fairly. They shunned monsters, denied them access to certain public facilities, and some monsters were downright beaten because of what they were. Jack felt guilty when one night, he and Papyrus were out late getting last minute ingredients for dinner and got they jumped. Jack wasn't a fighter so he eventually got them to leave them alone, but the whole reason they were attacked was because Jack saved the monsters from the miserable place that was the Underground. But instead, be brought them to a place where he knew real monsters lived: the Surface.

Now he started feeling guilty about the whole thing.

_"Wouldn't it be easier to liberate them?"_

Jack growled, shaking his head. " _Get out."_

_'You don't really mean that Baby Boy. You know you love me.'_

_"Get out of my head!"_

"Jack, it's getting late out. Would you like to return home?" Toriel asked kindly, interrupting his argument with the voice.

Jack nodded, feeling a slight pressure in his head. "Yeah...I'm actually really tired."

"careful kid. not enough sleep and you might end up  deep-rest." Sans joked.

" _SANS!"_ Papyrus shook his head and groaned.

Jack laughed.

_"This isn't real happiness. You know they're truly  miserable. Protests, riots, and just general hate. You really think they enjoy this? They don't. They force themselves to look happy for you, so it doesn't seem like you really brought them to Hell. All of this happiness forced...you didn't really want that, did you Baby Boy?"_

He had no idea when this started. Maybe around the time he first fell into the underground, he began to hear it. A voice...no, a person of some sort, that was constantly in his head, whispering to him. It was weak at first, with Jack only catching a few phrases, but for some reason, Mark was almost like a physical being, being able to touch Jack and take slight control over him. But that was about all he knew. Really, Jack only knew that the voice's name was Mark and that he hated everything, humanity and monsters alike; he hated the world and everyone in it. Well, except for Jack. According to the other male, he loved Jack and everything he did. And because of that, he constantly whispered to Jack about what he should or shouldn't do, along with little compliments and teasing comments. Jack tried not to listen, but Mark was...his voice...was seductive and deep. And sometimes, Jack could feel Mark touching him, caressing him, stroking him...Jack just didn't know how to feel about it.

"How about a nice slice of piece before you go to bed?" Toriel suggested. "And some milk?"

"That sounds great," Jack answered. Maybe taking his mind off Mark would cause him to get bored and go away.

And that was what Jack tried to convince himself as he made the trek home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_"Aww. My baby boy isn't too tired for me, is he?."_

Jack groaned, rolling over. Mark was at it again, harassing him when he slept. It seemed like the only time Mark had more freedom and more control to do what he wanted. It was at night when he would strike and do things to Jack...things Jack couldn't fight off.

_"I want to play Sean...let's play."_

"N-No..." Jack groaned.

But he began to feel it.

A hand, cold to the touch, and barely there, ghosted across Jack's stomach. He tried to push it away, but he only brushed his own stomach, not the invisible hand.  Mark moved again, his hand moving to caress his abs, moving further down across his stomach, sliding under the waistband of his pants. He was hard, Jack could immediately figure out that much, and as much as he didn't want this, he couldn't fight a hand that wasn't really there. Mark had control Jack lacked. For some reason, his mind was foggy; he couldn't fight off Mark if he wanted to.

The ghost hand moved again, a brief caress across Jack's skin but began to move upwards. Jack squeezed his legs shut, trying to stop Mark, but it was in vain. The hand clasped his own, moving between his legs to grasp himself and begin to stroke. He heard Mark's breathy chuckle in his ear and Jack's mouth opened slightly as he touched himself, his hips rolling slowly into the motion of his hand. 

The other hand grazed over his nipple, sending a jolt down his body. His shirt slid up, and Jack would've pulled it down but his other hand refused to cooperate with him. Mark was slowly getting more control and Jack was losing control over his body and his mind.

"This is wrong," he whispered.

Some weird presence in his head was taking control of him, forcing him to touch himself, and Jack was becoming putty in these invisible hands. He was letting something that probably didn't even exist, something that was all in his head, do these things to him...

_"You're so cute Baby Boy."_

"Quit it," Jack groaned. "Go away."

_"You called me to you Baby Boy. You brought me here. I'm only here because you wanted me."_

Mark forced him to stroke himself harder, using a little more pressure. Jack could feel the tight ache of arousal course through his system and he fought to not push into the Mark's touch and failed. He bit he lip, the coil snapping and Mark chuckling in his ear. Jack felt disgusted with himself as he soiled the sheets, making a mess in his pajamas.

"Why are you doing this?" Jack whispered into the empty room. "Why?"

_"Because I love you Baby Boy."_

~The Next Day~

Jack boredly looked back and forth as Undyne and Mettaton argued over breakfast.

"YOU DON'T EVEN NEED TO EAT! YOU'RE A GHOST...ROBOT...THING METTATON!"

"Jack shouldn't be forced to eat such..." he made a disgusted face. "Garbage...it just isn't good for him. He's a growing boy!"

"HE'S ALMOST AN ADULT!"

"And he's still growing."

Undyne growled. "You are unbelievable Mettaton! They're pancakes! Just because they don't look the best doesn't mean they're not good!"

"Guys?" Jack tried.

"Or is it because they don't look like your face?" Undyne guessed. "Is that why they're garbage?"

"I really-" he tried again.

"They don't look like anything!" Mettaton complained. "They're just...circles...no creativity at all! It's not beautiful!"

Alphys tried to calm them both down, but to no avail. They continued to argue. Jack however, snuck a pancake off the stack and started eating regardless. They looked fine to him, and tasted great.

"Jack, do you have any plans for the day?" Toriel asked over the noise.

Jack swallowed and shrugged. "I was actually...well, I was going to go...and check on my family. I know I left but...I need some answers."

 _"You don't need any answers from them Baby Boy,"_ Mark whispered. _"They didn't deserve you."_

Jack tried to ignore it, but Mark's voice and his words made Jack flush. He appreciated that Mark was concerned, but it was still unnerving.

"i don't think you should kid. bringing up the past..." Sans turned away. "it hurts sometimes. you shouldn't have to go through that."

Jack sighed. "I won't feel at peace until I do."

"...kid, let's talk," Sans said, putting his ketchup on the table and getting up. His tone left no room for argument. Jack pushed his plate aside and dejectedly followed Sans out the kitchen.

_"He's the worst of them all. Did you know he's been jumped more times than he lets us know? But he pretends to be happy for you, so you don't feel like what you did was for naught. But Sans gets it the worst...I'm surprised he's been holding up so well."_

"Yes?" Jack said once he and Sans were away from the others. "Sans, there are just some things that-"

"i can see him," Sans interrupted.

"W-What?" _'Does he mean-'_

"i see him. the other human. he's like a ghost, but not...i've seen him for a while. ever since you fell down here. but...i never said anything because he didn't have a form before, just a little wisp of a soul. but it started to form, and became another human. there's somethin'...off about him. and i just want you to be careful. you're a good kid, but i've seen him whisperin' to you...i know you don't listen, just be careful, alright?"

Jack could only nod. He had no clue that Sans could actually see Mark. It was...disturbing oddly enough. He thought he'd be happy, but knowing that Sans knew something personal was...disappointing him. It felt as if he...almost didn't want Sans to know about Mark.

"I won't let him influence me Sans. I don't even pay attention half the time."

"good," Sans said softly. "that's...good kid. and look, if you really want to go see your parents...i can't stop you. but i can warn you that it might be a bad idea. i don't like to revisit my own past because of that very reason. but if you think it's best...i guess i can't stop you."

"I'll be fine," Jack assured.

~An Hour Later~

He wasn't fine.

He wasn't okay.

_"I told you you didn't need them Baby Boy. Now look at what happened."_

Jack didn't reply.

_"I hate it when you're sad. C'mon Baby Boy. Cheer up. You have me."_

Jack still didn't answer.

_"Jack...Baby Boy...For me. Please?"_

"...they adopted a kid," Jack murmured. "They adopted a blue-eyed, brown haired, twelve-year-old. They took my pictures down and replaced them with his. My room was redecorated with his stuff. They mentioned me once and just told him I was dead, neglecting to leave out the part where they abandoned me, left me on the streets. And then they bring him into our home...they gave him a home after denying me on. How am I supposed to smile after that?"

 _"Oh Baby-Boy...C'mere,"_ Mark whispered.

Jack felt arms wrap around him and he was pulled against a strong chest. It was cold, but...comforting. Jack didn't want to break down, but he did. In a dirty alley near his own home, Jack broke down in the phantom arms of someone who was trying to convince him to kill monsters. To anyone else, Jack would just look lost, and alone. But his mind was in turmoil.

Mark made shushing noises and stroked his hair, watching Jack slowly begin to calm down. The younger was rocking them, but Mark didn't mind. He did truly love the younger, he really did; he just didn't want Jack to get hurt anymore. Mark had seen it. Since the day Jack's parents first started to neglect him, Mark was there. He couldn't talk to Jack at first, not a full conversation, but short phrases. But then, as Jack fell deeper and deeper into a depressing hole, Mark grew stronger. And at one point...Jack expressed desire to kill. And Mark grew so strong that day, he was able to finally talk to his beauty and touch him. How he loved touching him.

But now, seeing him like this, Mark knew he needed to act. There was only one thing that would make Jack happy.

_"Baby-Boy...turn around."_

Jack sniffed, looking over his shoulder. When he laid eyes on the crumpled form, he gasped.

There was a lone monster, one Jack had met at Mettaton's hotel, laying there. Bruises littered what Jack could see of his body, but there was a pool of blood under him. One of his eyes was swollen shut, his arm was at an odd angle, and Jack could see that both of his legs were broken.

"H...help...me," he whispered, trying to reach for Jack.

The Irishman covered his mouth, not able to tear his eyes away from the sight. "W-What happened?"

_"He was beaten Jack. This is what happens to the monsters. Ones with families, businesses, lives to look forward too...they're all beaten. They just don't want their savior to see it. They hide from you to protect you. But if you liberate them and send them to a better place...they won't have to suffer through this anymore."_

He smiled when Jack's resolve crumble, then break entirely.

Jack sniffed. Mark was right. He'd been right this whole time. Liberating them and sending them to a better place would be a happier option than leaving them to suffer. Liberation was the key. He could do a better job. "W-What should I do?"

 _"Liberate him."_ Mark guided Jack's hand to a knife that was laying nearby. _"It'll be better this way."_

Jack lifted the bloody knife. The blood was still fresh, the blade sharp. It felt...right, in his hand. Jack couldn't help the smile. He crawled over to the fallen monster, looking him over. Mark said this would be better. Mark was right. He'd always been right.

By the time he had finished, he was covered in blood and dust, his hair and clothes matted, dyed crimson due to all the blood. But Jack had a sick smile on his face , ignoring his appearance. He quietly walked the streets, chuckling quietly to himself and along with Mark as they mad their way home. He snuck in through the window, making sure no one caught him, before tossing the knife on the bed. Mark slid off his hoodie, once blue but now permanently stained crimson.

 _"That was beautiful Baby-Boy,"_ Mark praised, and Jack finally got a look at the man who was always in his mind. Somehow, Mark had gotten a somewhat physical form. Mark was taller than him, his skin slightly tanned, with deep brown eyes that were glinting in happiness and something else Jack couldn't decipher. He was also more built than Jack, with muscles that strained against his own black shirt. His hair was dark, surprisingly with a patch of red floof, but also flecks of blood, which Jack didn't understand at first since Mark hadn't had a physical form when Jack ki-liberated the monster from before, but he went with it anyways.

"Mark-"

Before he could get another word out, Jack was pulled against him, their lips smashed together in a bruising kiss. Mark was kissing him harder, deeper, with a fervent urgent need Jack never experienced before. It was soft at first, but it grew into something deeper, with an intensity that Jack didn't know, but made him cling to Mark as the only solid thing holding him up in a dizzy world. Mark was passionate, warm, bruising, and everything Jack wanted, just never knew he needed. His breath was stolen however, and he was forced to let go of Mark, panting harshly.

 _"I've been waiting a long time to do that Baby-Boy,"_ Mark panted. _"But someone will find out. You have to RESET."_

Jack looked up at Mark. "But...can't I liberate them now?"

_"They'll take it the wrong way. At least if you RESET, they won't have to suffer this pain. All you'd have to do is RESET, make all of this go away, and then send them to a better place."_

"...I really shouldn't," Jack found himself saying. Something inside of him was telling him that this was so wrong. But Mark...Mark hadn't been wrong earlier. That monster didn't hurt anymore.

_"But...aren't you curious? Don't you want to know what it'll be like to be...free of the guilt that you brought them to the surface, only for them to suffer? Don't you want to know what it's like to be a liberator?"_

Jack looked down at the knife uneasily. _'Yes'_ , he thought to himself, a sick twisted thought that shouldn't have even had rolling around in his head. Earlier, he just wasn't in the right frame of mind. Now that he had calmed down it seemed wrong, but going against Mark was sounding less and less appealing.

 _"RESET,"_ he urged. _"Come on Baby Boy. You know you want to."_

The deep voice was dark and seductive. Jack knew the other was tricking him, but...Mark said he loved him. It wasn't a trick, it was just very tempting. "It's wrong!" Jack tried to protest, though it sounded weak to his own ears. "Killing is...wrong..." But after what he did, it didn't seem so bad...it seemed a bit...fun actually. It gave him a rush.

 _"These monsters aren't happy,"_ Mark continued, rubbing Jack's arm sensually. " _I told you before. They might be on the surface, but think about it. People aren't accepting them. They're scared of them. They aren't wanted up here. They were better off in the underground. At least there, they weren't beaten. They were truly happy."_

"But-"

 _"And since they're not happy there either, wouldn't it be better to kill them and send them to a better place?"_ Mark chuckled in his ear. _"Listen Baby Boy: don't think of it as killing. Think of it as...liberation. No one has to suffer anymore. You'll be a savior. Just, not in the traditional sense."_

 _'It's wrong,'_ Jack thought again, but regardless pulled up his option. There it was. The RESET button. He could do it...he could help them.

Mark smirked as he watched Jack's hand slowly inch towards the button.

"kid?!"

Mark growled when Sans' voice rang out, but he wasn't worried. The annoying skeleton would get it soon enough. Mark was patient enough. He waited for Jack this long, hadn't he? Mark just didn't understand how Sans had found them out, maybe he'd been listening in, but it didn't matter. Mark had gotten what he wanted. Jack was going to do it.

"what're you doing?! we did it jack! we're on the surface! don't reset! we're finally happy!"

 _"But are you really?"_ Mark asked, knowing that Sans was one of the few people that could see him and hear him.

"don't listen to him," Sans pleaded. "jack, we talked about this. you said you weren't listening to him-"

"It's for the best," Jack whispered, not turning to face Sans. "Mark opened my eyes. He showed me the truth. I'm helping you."

He hit the button.

 


	2. Took Away Our Perfect, Happy Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack has RESET...he's in the Underground again. What lies in wait for he and Mark?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter two came to me really easily. That's all to be said. See you at the bottom.

 

Love and Genocide

_“Jack? Baby Boy? Are you awake? The fall wasn’t that hard. You’ll be fine Baby Boy.”_

Jack blinked open his eyes, feeling the ground below. Soft…the ground was soft. Like petals. _‘The golden flowers,’_ Jack realized. Then he remembered that he had RESET. He RESET the world with his power. To help the monsters. Mark was right. They weren’t happy on the surface, and probably would never be. But Jack had the power to redo that. Flowey was wrong that time. His prediction had been so off. No one was tearing down or destroying anything. There was no threat.

_‘Hi. Seems as if everyone is perfectly happy. Monsters have returned to the surface. Peace and prosperity will rule across the land. Take a deep breath. There’s nothing left to worry about…Well, there is one thing. One last threat. One being who can destroy EVERYTHING. You know who I’m talking about, don’t you? That’s right.’_

Jack had just assumed Flowey was mentioning Jack himself, but he had been wrong. Flowey wasn’t talking about Jack. He was talking about Mark. Jack hadn’t picked up on it then, but Flowey was wrong then too. There wasn’t a threat, only a savior. The savior had come, and Flowey hadn’t seen it coming at all. Sure, he may have seen Mark, but he didn’t see Mark for what he really was.

_‘I’m talking about him! No one else sees him but me…you don’t even see him. Don’t even recognize that he’s there. He is going to be the death of you. You’re sitting there, letting him exist, and for what? He’ll eventually kill you, and you’ll be powerless to stop him. He will only hurt you, with no regard for your own wellbeing. How does it feel? To be played after you worked so hard? Sucks, doesn’t it. He makes what I did seem like nothing. And here I first though you were a monster.’_

Mark wasn’t playing him. Mark loved him. That’s all Mark did since the first day. Loved him.

“I’m alright,” Jack said, rubbing his arm since he had landed on it wrong. “Really Mark. I’m fine. And we’re back. It’s the Underground.”

_“You know what to do Baby Boy. The liberation starts soon.”_

“I know,” Jack replied. “I know…” Jack would be like an Angel. A true savior. Instead of sending them to the Surface where they’d be attacked and harassed by humans, they could be with their loved ones again. They would be happy again.

It was time to begin.

“Howdy! I’m Flowey! Flowey the Flower!” Flowey smiled brightly, even though Jack knew the little bastard was lying through his teeth. This whole charade to try and trick Jack, capture his soul…and Jack had fallen for it. He’d almost gotten fucked up by a flower!

“Hmmm...You're new to the UNDERGROUND, aren'tcha?”

 _‘No,’_ Jack thought, folding his arms. _‘You pulled this shit with me before. I’m not new here. And I won’t let you get me again.’_

_“Play along Baby Boy. He’ll get his soon.”_

Jack nodded, focusing on Flowey.

Flowey seemed to think for a moment, tilted his head as he observed Jack. “You look familiar…nah. I must be thinking of someone else. But golly, you must be so confused! Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! I guess little old me will have to do. Ready? Here we go!”

Jack didn’t need a tutorial. What he needed was to get out of here and start his liberation. Mark was growing impatient, and so was he. He wanted to get this over with already. Flowey was going to throw a wrench in their plans; Jack just knew it.

“See that heart? That’s your soul! The-“

“Very culmination of my being,” Jack growled, mocking Flowey’s annoying high-pitched tone. “I know that already. Can we skip the tutorial?”

Flowey seemed taken aback by Jack’s tone, or Jack though he was. However, Flowey was staring at Jack’s chest. “Oh…well that’s new.”

Jack looked down at where Flowey was staring. There was his heart, his soul of course. But it looked different…it was a swirling mass of two different colors that constantly swished back and forth, embracing and then pulling apart, and then seeming to caress one another. Two different souls, but fused together to make one.

 _“We’re fused Baby Boy,”_ Mark said, sounding happy. _“That means our souls have fused together. We’re even closer now than we were before. Now, anyone who sees our soul will know that we were made for each other.”_

Jack couldn’t have been happier. “I see it Mark. I see our souls…it’s beautiful.”

“How…peculiar…” Flowey murmured. “I’ve only seen this once before…” He smirked, narrowing his eyes. “Oh. I see now.” He laughed, looking past Jack to Mark, who was gazing lovingly at Jack. “Didn’t I tell you before? No regard for your own wellbeing. He forced your souls together to make himself strong. He doesn’t care about you. He’s only using you to-“

“He loves me,” Jack interrupted angrily. “Something you’ll never understand _Asriel._ ”

Flowey shifted at hearing his real name. “What did you just call me?”

“You’ll never understand love _Asriel._ What Mark and I have is special. I can _feel_ his love for me.”

“You shut your mouth,” Flowey growled, visibly seething.

_“Keep talking Baby Boy. You’re doing beautifully.”_

“I can feel Mark’s love for me, in every fiber of my being. I can feel his soul twined with mine, feel how happy I make him and he makes me. I could feel how overjoyed he was when he saw our souls fused together. I can feel-“

**_ “I SAID SHUT UP!” _ **

Jack was immediately forced into a battle against Flowey, large petals surrounding his fused soul. Jack wasn’t afraid though, even as he could feel the barest of pressure against his soul thanks to Flowey’s attack. This could have easily gone badly for him if he didn’t know any better. But he did. Even as the petals start to come even closer, Jack didn’t panic. Flowey seemed to think that Jack was going to die here and began laughing. However, a magical ball of fire flew towards Flowey, knocking him away and cutting his laughter short. Jack watched the flower’s face scrunch into an expression of anger as he was knocked away.

“You poor thing,” a soft voice said. “What a terrible creature to be harassing such a poor, innocent youth.”

Jack gave a short bow, smiling inwardly. “Thank you for saving me. I’m Jack.”

“It is very nice to meet you Jack. I am Toriel. Caretaker of the Ruins. We have much to discuss.”

~Later~

Jack didn’t hesitate to kill the monsters in the Ruins once Toriel left him alone. Mark had helped him find monsters and advised him the right direction on where to find it. It was almost like Mark had done this before…

 The only one Jack didn’t attack was Napstablook, but that was because Mark advised him that since Napstablook was a ghost, it wouldn’t have mattered; the reason he was still there was because he hadn’t moved on yet, and you couldn’t liberate a ghost. So Jack spared him, even though Napstablook’s crying annoyed Mark. He asked Mark if it was unfair that Napstablook would be alone in the Underground after the liberation was complete, but Mark assured him that the little ghost would be fine alone. Jack agreed and ventured off, chomping onto Vegetoids when he got hungry or when he felt like it. A few monsters called him a monster, but Mark would take over and tell them to look in the mirror. Jack never knew himself to act like that, and at first it seemed wrong but…he felt himself caring less and less with each monster he liberated. Because he was doing the right thing. That was the way he saw it, and that was the way Mark had told it to him. And Mark wasn’t wrong. He was never wrong.

Now, he had finally made it to Toriel’s home, where the woman was outside waiting. She flipped open the phone she had given and was about to call him when she noticed him standing there.

“Oh! There you are! You made it here by yourself?” She smiled kindly. “I’m proud of you. I thought it’d be difficult for you make it through-“

“I’m not a child,” Jack cut her off. “I just…used logic and reasoning. It wasn’t difficult.”

Toriel chuckled. “Yes. You are quite older than…never mind. Anyways, please. Come inside. I have something to show you.”

_“Just wait a bit longer. Let her enjoy the last few moments of her life before she moves on.”_

Jack nodded, following Toriel in.

“Surprise!” Toriel grinned as she showed him around the house and explained some things to him, and she seemed the happiest when she showed Jack his ‘room’. “I know the toys might be a little uninteresting to you, but I’m sure I can find something to entertain yourself with. Do not worry.”

Jack wasn’t worried. Instead, he turned to the caretaker and smiled. The room didn’t matter since he was just going to sleep for a while and leave, but it made him feel all the better about this knowing that Toriel committed nothing but nice deeds. She was meant for better places, and this just proved it. “It’s great,” he said softly. “Thank you.”

_“Don’t let her get too attached Baby Boy. It’ll be harder for you to let her go.”_

“Toriel, you didn’t show me the other rooms,” Jack said, realizing once again that Mark was right. “Am I allowed in there?” He was honestly curious about the room under renovations. He had never gone in there before, and after the trip to the surface, he never thought to ask again since he thought it didn’t matter. But since Toriel wasn’t going to be here any longer, it shouldn’t matter either way.

“You are allowed into my room if you need me,” Toriel answered. “The other room…just please refrain from going in there.” She shifted nervously. “I…I have something to check on. Please, feel free to explore the house, read some of my books, or go into the kitchen for a snack. Excuse me.”

Jack watched her leave and waited a few minutes, playing absently with the toys. Once he memorized everything in the room and their positions, he looked outside for Toriel before leaving the room, sneaking over to the last room. Before he was able to go inside, he could hear sobbing from the other side. Something (not Mark though) told him to just walk away, but something else told him to check the room. Curiosity winning over, Jack pushed the door open as quietly as possible.

Inside, Toriel was kneeling at a table, face in her hands as she sobbed softly, trying not to make too much noise. There was something of a shrine in front of her, filled with items that looked like they belonged to children. There was a bouquet of golden flowers resting there as well, but Jack was only concerned with Toriel. The room was pitch black save for a single candle on a table, the low light showing some of Toriel’s tears.

“What’s she doing?” Jack asked Mark, keeping his voice low so to not alert Toriel.

 _“Mourning,”_ Mark answered. _“For all her lost children.”_

 _‘The other humans’_ Jack realized.

_"Toriel doesn't deserve this Baby Boy. All she did was love...she loves and loves, even when she shouldn't. She loved all humans, even if they did mistreat her. Look at her now."_

Jack watched, Toriel unaware he was in the room. She was kneeling at some sort of...alter? A shrine? Whatever she was kneeling at, she was crying over objects, including ballet shoes and a red bandanna. They were both small, like they belonged to very small children, and dirty, as if they had been neglected for years.

 _"Do you remember those?"_ Mark asked.

Jack remembered everything. The other kids that fell before him; they all passed through the Ruins just like he did. Toriel kept relics of those kids in this shrine. This was probably why Toriel kept the room locked, so that no one would ask questions, so no one would see her pain.

 _"She's hurting,"_ Mark whispered. _"Every time a human falls here, she goes through the same thing. They fall, she rescues them, they come here, they leave, and they die. She's gone through this seven times, losing people she cared about. Nine if we're being honest."_ He gestured to a small hat that was in a glass case, away from anything else. _"That belonged to another human that fell here. One of the first actually. The First. Toriel doesn't speak about him. Because she doesn't know what happened. She found a human by himself and decided to care for him in secret; she didn’t tell Asgore or Asriel about this human beause she was scared they would chase him off. He was the first human he ever loved. Bu then one day…he was gone. He didn't die but...one day, he just disappeared. He hadn't been with her for long, but it still hurt that he was gone. Once they found out, they were shocked she hid this from them, but wanted to know what had happened. Everyone thought he died...or that Toriel killed him and was trying to cover it up. No one ever found out. And no one speaks about it anymore."_

"She'd never," Jack whispered, backing out of the room to give Toriel privacy. He'd give her a few moments to reminisce on the past before he attempted to leave the Ruins. Then he'd have to confront her in front of the door. But this time, he'd send her to a better place, where she'd be reunited with the kids she lost. She'd be happy once again. No more pain or suffering.

Jack slid into the bed, feeling Mark wrap strong arms around him. They sat in silence for a minute, with Mark whispering things to him that were both naughty and nice. He almost began to doze in Mark’s strong arms, but them remembered something he wanted to ask Mark about.

"What about the other kids?" Jack asked, peering up at Mark. He knew a little bit about it, but hearing it from Mark, hearing Mark explain some of what Jack didn't understand, made him feel like he really was doing the right thing.

 _"Toriel was hurt when her first human disappeared. She didn’t tell Asgore, but started to doubt him from that moment on. Then Chara came along,"_ Mark continued, absently tracing patterns on Jack's back. The light, ghostly touch sent shiver down his back and he squirmed in Mark's arms as the older continued to talk. _"Toriel had already had a son, one who convinced her not to harm the human, but care for him even though the first time went badly. They grew up as siblings, even though Chara was...different. She was like me. She loved Asriel, but she didn't care about anyone else; they could suffer for all she cared."_

Jack remembered this. Flowey/Asriel had told him this tale, and he found out other things from the True Lab. Chara was killed from a sickness and Asriel tried to appease her last wish by taking her to the surface, but he was killed as well, eventually turning into Flowey in the process of being resurrected. But how...?

"How do you know all this Mark?"

Mark was quiet. It was unnerving because Mark loved talking to him. But why was he silent now? Mark had begun telling the tale, but who told him? “Mark?” Jack asked again. “How do you know all of this?”

 _"…After Chara, another human fell,"_ Mark recounted, ignoring Jack's question. _"A girl. Toriel had left Asgore and was living in the Ruins. She didn't at first want to put herself in the same situation as she was in with Chara, but she relented...Madi died two weeks later; she foolishly left the home she swore she loved... Toriel almost went insane; she’d lost someone else she cared deeply about. Then came Anthony. Adorable little boy. He was killed at the castle after he snuck out one night, trying to be an adventurer. He had even carried around a toy knife and everything. Never got around to using it though…After Anthony was Chase. A fighter that one. He had a bandana and gloves because he wanted to grow up and be a fighter or a wrestler. He left when Asgore sent a note down for him, saying something about training. He died as well; poor bastard froze to death before he made it anywhere significant; went out during a bad storm and couldn’t find a safe place to rest when the storm hit. After Chase was Kelly, and she was such a nerd. Glasses and books all day. All she did was study; she wanted to be a scholar when she grew up...her quest for knowledge led her to Alphys, and you know how that ended. Alphys didn’t kill her per say, but Kelly died in the lab…I won’t go into it."_

"That explains so much," Jack whispered. "All those things I found in the Ruins and on the way to the castle...it was from those kids. They might've forgotten them or lost them, and that's why they were battered and scruffy at the shrine. Because the kids lost them and it was all Toriel had left."

Mark nodded. _"After Kelly was Maya. She loved to cook, whether it was human food or monster food. She made friends in the Ruins through her food."_

Mark seemed to trail off, not wanting to continue.

"What happened to her?" Jack asked after moments of silence. "I know she died, but what happened?"

 _"...she drowned in an icy river. She tried to feed someone on the opposite of a river bank, which was actually just a tree, and she fell in. No one helped her because no knew what happened to her; her body was discovered until Toriel decided to risk it and venture out to look for her...it wasn't pretty. She just…her body was mangled; something must’ve attacked her body while it was blue and bloated, "_ As if sensing how horrified Jack was, Mark kissed his forehead and held him tighter. " _After Maya was Brittany, a dancer. She uh...she was practicing a dance routine and wanted to show it to other monsters, so she left to find a place to make a stage. She came to a place near the castle that she thought would be perfect to have everyone gather, but in the midst of her final practice, the ground under her gave and she fell. And finally, you had...Issac. Toy gun and cowboy hat. Loved playing cowboy...he was trampled to death after he fled the Ruins; I won’t go into any more detail about him."_ Mark sighed, feeling Jack trembling. " _Toriel lost her mind after that. She swore to never care for a human again, but that didn't work. She always fell for the kids that fell into the ruins because she was mourning for the three kids she lost. It never worked; she never wanted to love the kids, but her heart was too big, and it hurt her in the end. She always lost those kids she loved, just like her original three. But you Baby Boy..."_ Mark chuckled. _"You gave her hope that she could be a teacher, surrounded by hundreds of little kids who'd adore her."_

"Instead I sent her to a personal torturous world. She was constantly mocked by kids, some hit her, some threw things, and some were terrified of her. I caused her more pain," Jack whispered, shaking in Mark’s arms.

 _"But you're doing something good now,"_ Mark reminded. " _Once you liberate her, she'll be able to be with all of the kids she lost. That'll be better."_ Mark kissed his forehead again. _"Sleep well Baby Boy. You know what comes when you wake up."_

"Will you still be here? Will you stay?"

_"I'll never leave you Baby Boy. Never."_

Jack smiled, drifting off to sleep. He dreamed of he and Mark, standing in the empty underground, laughing.

When Jack woke next, there was a piece of pie in the middle of the room, just like before. _'This is it,'_ Jack thought. _'I'll liberate Toriel today. She'll be with the kids she lost. She can be happy.'_

He climbed out of bed and put the pie away for later, walking out of the room. He found Toriel the same way last time; in her favorite reading spot. Jack mindlessly listened as Toriel spoke of them being happy, having to tweak the curriculum for him because Jack was older than she expected, and other nonsense until she asked his opinion of them being a family.

_“Don’t give her hope Baby Boy.”_

"I won't replace the kids you lost," he said, looking straight into her eyes. "I know you miss them, but I can't substitute the family you lost. I can't stay here Toriel. This is for your own good."

Toriel looked shocked. "My child? What do you-"

"I'm leaving Toriel. And I'm not a child. I'm leaving the Ruins."

 _"It's best not to let her get attached. Good job Baby Boy,"_ Mark praised.

Jack turned and tried to leave the room and go downstairs, but Toriel was faster. She was already downstairs before he made two steps, probably guarding the door and trying to destroy it.

_"Quick Baby Boy! You have to go now!"_

Jack sprinted out the room and down the stairs, the hall getting darker. As he predicted, Toriel was there, gathering energy for a magical attack to destroy the door.

"It's no use Toriel," Jack called as he approached. "I'll still find a way out."

Toriel slowly put down her hands, turning to Jack. "Why?" She whispered.

Jack didn't answer.

"I tried to be a good mother...a good wife...a good person...I don't harm anyone. I try to be nice to all humans that fall here." Her eyes were filled with tears. "You're all the same. You come, take advantage of me, and then leave. Even you. I sat and preached to Him why we should spare you humans but..." she looked at Jack, now seeing the barely concealed anger in his eyes. Then she realized what it all meant.

"Y...you... really hate me that much? You hate monsters that much?” She shook her head in horror. “Now I see who I was protecting by keeping you here. Not you... But them! All that hate in your eyes, in your heart…When you arrived earlier, I wondered why you were covered in dust, and now I know why." She glared. "I won't let you leave! Not with people out there I have to protect! Not when you look like this!"

Jack looked down at himself. What was wrong with him? The dust? That was to be expected. Toriel just didn’t understand what he was doing, what his liberation mission meant. She’d soon find out.

 _"Your eyes Baby Boy,"_ Mark explained. _"I love the way they look. But Toriel...all she sees is a monster. She doesn't understand why you're doing this."_

Jack narrowed his eyes and cracked his knuckles, pulling out the knife from before he reset. The blood had already dried and crusted over, giving the knife a slightly rusted color. Jack twirled it in his hand.

Toriel's eyes widened when he noticed the knife. "Where did you get th-"

Jack didn't give her a chance to finish. Before she could get the rest of the sentence out, he'd already driven the knife into her chest and twisted. Toriel gave a strangled gasp and Jack pulled the knife back. Blood spayed him in the face, warm and slightly sticky. But he paid no mind as Toriel put a hand up to cover the lethal wound.

"How could you...?" She whispered. "I...all I've done was try. Wasn't that enough for you? Why would you do this? I tried...tried so hard to care for you because...when I first saw you, I felt... ... like I was seeing an old friend for the first time." She choked, spitting blood onto the front of her dress. Her white fur was becoming matted with blood, clumping together. "We...we still have a chance to be happy."

**_Though she is weak, Toriel is sparing you._ **

Jack curled his lip.

" _Pathetic,"_ Mark growled. He placed his hand over Jack's. _"Allow me."_

Jack felt himself slip, his body fading from his control. He couldn't feel himself move, but he could see it. He could see Mark, with control of his body, taking the knife and charging at Toriel, delivering one final slash with the knife. Toriel coughed blood again, staring at Jack in horror. Her blood sprayed the air, turning Jack's light blue hoodie violet due to the sheer amount of blood that seeped into it.

"You... ...at my most vulnerable moment... To think I was worried you wouldn't fit in out there..."

Then she did something surprising.

She began laughing, blood coming up with spittle as she tossed her head back and laughed, the volume decreasing with each passing second. "Eheheheh!!! You really are no different than them!" The last words were barely a whisper. Toriel was dying, and quickly.

Jack felt Mark loosen the reins and watched Toriel die, her weak laughter still ringing in his ears. Her body dissolved into dust, and Jack watched her soul slowly shatter into nothing.

 _"How do you feel?"_ Mark asked, stroking Jack's cheek.

Jack was on a high. That had felt...so good. He grinned up at Mark. "Did I do a good?" He asked softly. "She's better now, right? I sent her to a better place, didn’t I? Was it good?" It was like he craved Mark’s approval, his attention. He _wanted_ Mark to be happy, and wanted this to make him happy.

Mark kissed him sweetly, brushing blood off of his cheek. _"You did beautifully."_ He turned Jack towards the exit. _“Now, let’s continue.”_

Jack pushed open the door to the Ruins and walked out, feeling energized.

Flowey was waiting for him. But instead of being smug, the flower looked horrified. “The Ruins are completely empty,” he whispered. “Every single one of them…killed without remorse. You laughed at some of them…some of them you were brutal with…and you spared one ghost just because they were already dead.” He shook his head. “You truly are a sick monster.”

“Look in the mirror Flowey,” Jack said. “I didn’t try to kill my mother and father in cold blood. I didn’t try to be a monster. I didn’t harm them for my own selfish gain. And most of all, I didn’t RESET constantly to manipulate people around me. I only RESET once; to begin the liberation.”

“Liberation? Is that what he called it?” Flowey smirked. “He’ll be the death of you. And I’ll be there waiting…waiting for the day I’ll be over your bloody corpse with that man abusing the power _you_ willingly gave him. He’ll kill you, and you’ll walk right into your own death.”

“He loves me.”

“Does he really? Who else did he tell that to?” Flowey questioned. He gave Jack not time to think about that as Flowey disappeared, leaving him with his own thoughts.

“Y-You love me…right Mark?” Jack asked quietly, doubting the other after Flowey’s question. It was stupid, but he hadn’t known Mark for long, and while he was sure that he loved Mark, how did Jack know that Mark really loved him in return. What if they were just empty words, like Flowey said?  “You really love me? You tell me that all the time but...do you mean it?”

 _“Flowey is just jealous. He’ll never know what it feels like; he can only vaguely remember what emotions feel like.”_ Mark frowned and Jack could feel Mark’s disappointment and anger. _“Don’t believe a word he said. I’m here to protect you Baby Boy. I’ll protect you and make sure no one can hurt you while you liberate these monsters. And yes. I truly love you Baby Boy. You mean the most to me. I’ve never told anyone what I tell you. You’re special to me.”_

Jack felt Mark’s strong arms wrap around him and felt a kiss pressed to his cheek. He smiled, laying a hand over Mark’s. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”

_“ **Never** do it again.”_

The command was sharp, angry, and biting, as if Mark was both angry and offended that Jack would even question his love. It made Jack fearful that Mark would leave him after this. After all, Mark _was_ only trying to help him make people happy. He was trying to fulfill Jack’s wish.

“Mark, I’m so sorry. Just…Flowey always unnerved me. Ever since the first time, I was always so uncomfortable around him.” Jack rubbed his arms, shivering slightly. Mark’s tone had scared him. He didn’t want to lose Mark. Not now, when Mark was helping him do so much. Mark was willing to forgive him, right?

_“It’s alright Baby Boy. But don’t doubt me, alright? I’m only doing what’s best for you. It’s because I love you.”_

“I love you too Mark.

Jack began to walk, feeling Mark surround him. It was a pleasant feeling, knowing that his loved one was always with him. He let his feet carry down the familiar path as Mark whispered sweet words to him and told them of what they’d do in the future. Jack wanted everything Mark said and more. He wanted to be with him forever and ever.

He was so happy talking with Mark that he didn’t notice the branch he stepped on, nor did he notice when it broke a few seconds after he passed it. But Mark did.

_“Baby Boy, look alive. Sans is here.”_

“Where?”

“right here.”

Jack whirled around, seeing Sans staring at him from the forest. Though his face was permanently in a smile, it was empty, just like his eyes. And Sans wasn’t staring at him…it seemed like Sans was staring past him…at Mark.

Sans looked Jack up and down, then observed Mark before speaking. “you didn’t listen.”

Jack tilted his head slightly. Listen to what?

“i asked you, no...i told you about him. that other human. the evil human. i told you to be careful of him. look at where that got you." Sans sighed. "you didn't do this. i know you didn't. this isn’t you. it was him. you gave him control and now look at yourself! you're literally coated in blood and dust because of him. anyone would figure out what you...what he made you do as soon as they saw you." He shook his head. “disgusting. he disgusts me. but not you kid. all you did was listen and he made you into a monster.” 

Jack clenched his fist. "He didn't make me do anything or make me into anyone.” Mark wrapped a possessive arm around his waist, filling Jack with confidence. “You don't understand Sans. I'm doing a good thing. I'm liberating you guys. That way, you don't have to go to the Surface and pretend to be happy when you're not. That’s not a monster…that’s a savior."

Sans laughed ironically. "did he tell you that we were unhappy?"

Jack didn't answer.

Sans laughed again, this time bitterly. "i knew it. i told you how dangerous he was, and you listened. we weren't unhappy. sure we were disappointed that it wasn't what we dreamed, but there were still some good humans. we were working on making a difference. our way was working. and you went and RESET anyways, took away our happy ending despite me warning you." He sighed, shaking his head. "he's playing you."

"He loves me!" Jack protested. “He tells me all the time!”

"don't believe him. he's twisted. he wants to purge monsters for sick gain. he’s only telling you what you want to hear. i know about your past, with your parents. you were upset that they left you, that they didn’t love you, so you get that ‘love’ from him, to make up for the love you never had. but he doesn’t love you. he wants you to believe that so he can do whatever he wants. you listening to him is making him stronger."

Jack growled. "Mark is helping me. We're doing good! And he really does love me, I know he does! I can feel it!"

Sans didn't answer, instead looking past him at Mark before turning away. "Papyrus is on his way. you know how this goes. but...if you fuck with my brother...i won't hesitate to strike you down right now and tear your soul to shreds."

Jack laughed, running a hand through his sticky hair. "Oh Sans," he said, waving a hand. "I'm only doing this to help you. Mark says I'm doing good, and I am. Toriel is in a better place now because of me."

Before Sans could ask what Jack meant, Papyrus came stomping through, his boots crunching through the snow. "SANS!" he shouted, completely missing the fact that Jack was standing there, covered in blood and dust.

"hey bro-"

"DON’T YOU ‘HEY BRO’ ME BROTHER! IT’S BEEN-“ Papyrus gasped, looking past Sans and laying eyes on Jack. He quickly took in Jack’s appearance before turning to Sans. "THAT MONSTER! HE LOOKS JUST LIKE A HUMAN!"

Sans looked between the two. "uh Paps...that's not a monster...yet," he added the last part, though Papyrus didn't seem to hear him. "this actually is a human. i found one finally…sorta"

Papyrus didn't seem to grasp it at first. He was looking between Sans and Jack confusedly. But then he gasped and pointed at Jack. "SANS! THATS A HUMAN!" He gasped again, finally taking note of Jack's appearance. "B-BUT HE’S HURT!"

Sans looked at Papyrus in panic. "Papyrus, he-"

But Papyrus was in deep thought, ignoring Sans for the moment as e thought. "I HAVE DECIDED. HUMAN! IT WOULD NOT BE VERY HONORABLE OF ME, A FUTURE ROYAL GUARDSMAN, TO CAPTURE YOU WHILE YOU’RE INJURED… THEREFORE, I SHALL CARE FOR YOU UNTIL WE ARE ON EVE GROUND.” 

"paps? I really don't think you should-"

"QUIET SANS!" Papyrus strode forward and gripped Jack's arm, tugging him forward. Mark growled at the treatment and the fact that someone was touching what he claimed as his, but Jack shushed him.

Sans sighed as they disappeared, pulling out a phone and dialing a number. He really hoped that she would pick up. He really needed her right now.

"Whaddaya want Sans? I'm busy."

"Undyne...Paps found a human."

"Really? That's-"

"it's bad. it's really bad,” Sans interrupted. “this human is different. something isn't right with him. you need to get to our place, and fast."

"But-"

"just get here!" Sans shouted, and hung up the phone. There was a pit in his stomach he couldn't just brush off. That ghost human or whatever-he-was was corrupting Jack and forcing him to become this monster. And that same monster-to-be was at his home with his younger brother.

 Fearing the worst, he teleported to find a friend.

~Snowdin~

"SIT HERE HUMAN," Papyrus commanded as he forcibly pushed Jack onto the couch. "I’LL BE BACK IN A MOMENT. THEN, ONCE YOU ARE HEALED, I SHALL THEN COMMENCCE MY CAPTURE OF YOU. DO NOT MOVE!"

"Okay," Jack said, though Mark was laughing in his mind.

 _"He's pathetic,"_ Mark whispered. _"Taking care of someone he just met? What if you were a bad person?”_ Mark shook his head. “ _I think we should leave him be...who does he have to love in that place? He'll only have his brother, and that'll only go so far to satisfy him."_

"But...then he wouldn't be happy here either. Without anyone, he’d go crazy and be sad, and that’d be worse than him on the Surface." He looked over where Mark was. "We should do it anyways."

 _"He's forgettable,"_ Mark argued.

"Then it'll be fine," Jack assured.

Papyrus came back into the room with a med kit under one arm and spaghetti in the other.

" _Don’t eat it,"_ Mark warned, seeing Papyrus set the spaghetti near Jack and push it towards him expectantly.

Jack instead stared right at Papyrus, who stared back at him in confusion. This stare down lasted for a minute or two before Papyrus hummed and stood. “I’ll…be right back,” he said, quickly striding out of the room. Jack watched him go, cocking his head.

“Huh…that’s new…” Jack said aloud.

_“Go after him. Sans doesn’t approve of our liberation plan. Maybe if he saw the good we were doing, he’d understand. But first, go liberate the monsters around Snowdin.”_

Jack stood, knocking away the spaghetti and taking some supplies from the med kit. He made sure that his knife was still sharp before taking off after Papyrus, kicking away the Annoying Dog as he went. When he stepped outside, he took a deep breath of the icy air before making his trek.

Ice Cap.

Snowdrake.

Lesser Dog.

Chilldrake.

Gyftrot.

 Jerry.

 Doggo.

Dogamy and Dogaressa.

Greater Dog.

Even Glyde.

Blood, dust, snow, and ice covered Jack’s hands and his knife. His hoodie was dyed red now, a vivid crimson color that stood out starkly with his brown pants, white shirt flecked with red, and white sneakers. Everything…there was just so much blood.

 _“A small price to pay for liberating them Jack,”_ Mark said as Jack examined his clothing. _“I think red is a very fitting color for you. It really brings out your eyes.”_

Jack brushed some snow off of his sleeve, some having fallen on him when he knocked Dogamy into a large, snow covered tree and stabbed him. Dogaressa had been horrified and rushed at him with her axe, but Mark had taken over and shoved her off the cliff, her head cracking against an ice block down below. Blood began to pool under her as it leaked out from a nasty gash on her head. Dogamy had staggered towards Jack, but he slid out of the way and pushed him over as well. ‘Let them go together,’ Mark had said. The fight was annoying, but Mark kept telling him that liberation differed from person to person.

The other monsters had taken some time, but in the end, Snowdin Forest was empty, devoid of any of the monsters. Jack was making sure that they would find their better place with one another, because the surface was filled with people, humans actually, that didn’t understand monsters. Jack didn’t mind his job…all those monsters were gone, but Mark said it was okay. The monsters were gone now.

All of them, liberated within the hour.

_“And now for Papyrus.”_

He found Papyrus in the middle of a path, staring up at the sky. Jack took a step towards him, already thinking up a way to get him before Papyrus started a battle with him. He took a few more steps forward before Papyrus turned and held out a hand. “HALT HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE SOME THINGS TO SAY.”

Jack decided to humor him, let his last words be something memorable.

“FIRST: YOU´RE A FREAKING WEIRDO! NOT ONLY DO YOU TALK THIN AIR BUT THE WAY YOU SHAMBLE ABOUT FROM PLACE TO PLACE…THE WAY YOUR HANDS ARE COVERED IN THAT DUSTY POWDER AND RED SAUCE…” He stared at Jack’s hands, which were slowly inching behind him.

“IT FEELS…LIKE YOUR LIFE IS GOING DOWN A DANGEROUS PATH. HOWEVER!” His face broke into a grin. “I, PAPYRUS, SEE GREAT POTENTIAL WITHIN YOU! EVERYONE CAN BE A GREAT PERSON IF THEY TRY! AND ME, I HARDLY HAVE TO TRY AT ALL!!! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!!”

Jack stalked closer. His blood was roaring, heart beginning to race in excitement.

“HEY, QUIT MOVING!” Papyrus sighed, gesturing wildly to Jack. “THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT! HUMAN! I THINK YOU ARE IN NEED OF GUIDANCE!” He smiled as if this was the issue. Jack scoffed under his breath, reaching into his back pocket for the knife. Papyrus was unaware that Jack was reaching for a weapon, instead continuing to monologue.

“SOMEONE NEEDS TO KEEP YOU ON THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW! BUT WORRY NOT! I, PAPYRUS…” He paused for dramatic effect, hand on his chest. “WILL GLADLY BE YOUR FRIEND AND TUTOR! I WILL TURN YOUR LIFE RIGHT AROUND!!!”

_“Enough of this. Liberate him Baby Boy.”_

“With pleasure.”

Papyrus’ grin widened as Jack stalked even closer, palming the knife as Papyrus’ eyes began to water slightly.

 _“What an idiot.”_ Jack felt Mark roll his eyes and smirk. _“Then again, no one sees their liberation coming until it’s too late.”_

“I SEE YOU ARE APPROACHING. ARE YOU OFFERING A HUG OF ACCEPTANCE? WOWIE!! MY LESSONS ARE ALREADY WORKING!! I, PAPYRUS, WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS!”

_“It’s a clear shot Baby Boy. You’ve got this.”_

Jack swung the knife.

**_SHING!_ **

_“Who…has…the gall?”_ Mark growled angrily, glaring down at the offending weapon between Papyrus and the knife, the weapon that blocked their knife.

“Papyrus run!” Undyne shouted, her spear in front of Papyrus, having shielded Papyrus from the attack. Sans had teleported to get her and brought her back here, and she rushed in just in time to save her friend. “This human doesn’t need guidance; he needs to die!” She glared at Jack, who looked surprised. “Don’t you see?! He was going to kill you!”

“N-No…” Papyrus said softly, looking at Jack in surprise. “He was…he was going to change.”

_“Get ‘em.”_

“Papyrus, he was going to-ARGH!”

Jack shoved the knife straight into Undyne’s eye, making her howl in pain and stumble back. Papyrus looked in horror, watching as Jack kicked Undyne in the stomach, keeping a good grip on the knife as she went down so that it was driven deeper into her skull. Undyne tried to push him off, but Jack shoved his knee into stomach so that she couldn’t move him off. He pulled the knife back and shoved it down again. And again. And again. And again. Blood began to splatter his clothes, dying his hoodie an even darker shade of purple and tainting some of the green of his hair.

“S-Stop! STOP!” Papyrus screamed, moving to help her. “UNDYNE!”

“GET OUTTA HERE PAPYRUS!” Undyne shouted, blood leaking from where her eye was. “NOW! HE’S GOING TO KILL YOU!”

 _“Liberation is at hand,”_ Mark said. _“After Undyne, we’ll go and see Alphys. They’ll be happy together.”_

“Liberation is at hand,” Jack repeated, shoving the knife down again. At this point, Papyrus had already run off, probably to find Sans and get help. Undyne was making gurgling noises, trying to reach for her spear but failing. Jack grabbed the knife, twisted it harshly, and yanked it back out. He reached his other hand up to grip the handle, and with a sick smile, he slammed it down. The knife went _through_ Undyne’s skill, coming out the other side. Jack pulled it back and was able to see pink snow through the new hole in her skull. His knife was covered in other viscera, which he wiped off on her armor.

 _“She’s gone.”_ Mark brushed a hand over his face, Jack leaning into the touch. _“She’ll be in a better place.”_

**_But it refused._ **

Jack was shoved away somehow, flying back and hitting the hard ground beneath him. Mark switched at the last minute so that Jack wouldn’t get hurt, but it was still surprising that someone managed to throw him back like that. He stood, wiping snow and ice off his bottom and glaring at whoever dared stop his liberation plans.

There stood Undyne, who was now moving her eyepatch to her bloody eye. Her armor had changed, becoming sturdier and sharper, her spear radiated with power, and her SOUL was shining brightly. Jack didn’t know how she went through such a transformation, but Jack knew that Mark wasn’t going to stand for this.

 _“I don’t know what’s going on, but she doesn’t see the light. You have to make her see.”_ Mark paused for a moment. _“Better yet. **I’ll** make her see.”_

Mark forced Jack out of control and took a better grip on the knife. Jack sat back and watched as Undyne got into a battle stance, Mark gripping the knife and holding it tightly. _“Please don’t get hurt Mark.”_

 _“Don’t worry Baby Boy,”_ Mark said as he and Undyne stared each other down, raising their weapons. _“I’ve got this.”_

They charged.

~Skelebros~

“That human…I thought-“

“it’s alright Papyrus. you just didn’t know. i should’ve told you about hi-“

“I thought he’d been attacked,” Papyrus continued, pacing the safe house. “I thought a monster had been too rough with him and he had to escape. But he…he was actually…”

It was weird for Sans to hear Papyrus talk like this, all dejected and quiet. The only time Sans had ever heard this was when Papyrus had first gotten rejected his royal guard position. It was something Sans didn’t want to relive that ever again. His brother was exuberant and excitable and happy but now…now he was in danger of being killed by a confused kid.

“paps, it’ll all be okay-“

“But it won’t Sans!” Papyrus suddenly plopped down into a rickety chair, sighing. “He was covered in so much dust and bl-blo-blood,” he finally stuttered out. “He…I don’t think that’s who he is…something inside me is just telling me that the human doesn’t really act like that.”

Sans felt two emotions stirring within him: joy and fear. Joy because there was a chance that someone else knew about the timelines, and knew about the RESET like he did. But then there was fear. Fear that because Papyrus knew about the timeline, he would know that Jack wasn’t truly like this and go on a quest to prove that Jack wasn’t evil. But that would be a long and difficult process if Papyrus decided to do that. Jack was dangerous and too much for Papyrus to handle. Sans was hoping and praying that Papyrus wouldn’t go off and do anything reckless.

“paps…we need to go find others. rescue them before the human gets here.”

“…YES! UNDYNE WOULD BE SORELY DISAPPOINTED IF SHE CAME BACK AND SAW THAT WE DIDN’T PROTECT THE MONSTERS!”

Sans didn’t have the heart to tell him that Undyne might not even make it back.

**END**

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Mark keeps saying liberation to avoid saying ‘kill’ because if he says that, Jack would catch on to what was really going on.  
> 2) Sans and Flowey are the only two people beside Jack that can see and hear Mark.  
> 3) This story isn’t going to follow the genocide route completely. Instead of it seeming like a game, I’m trying to make it seem like an actually serial killer is going around  
> 4) It is debated on whether or not Asgore actually killed any of the kids; we are left to believe that he had a hand in it, but we don’t know directly if he did anything. So I just made up some crap…  
> 5) If this chapter is bad, I had an hour left in my English class this morning so I decided to make better use of my time. 16 pages in word…but I was so tired this morning. My mind was empty and my fingers were just moving…and I was trying to edit this while watching How To Get Away With Murder. I feel like this chapter is bad and/or confusing, and I apologize for that. But I will see you in the next chapter!   
> 6) If the picture doesn's show up, here's the link: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/58/34/1e/58341ef281188eef3bcdba46d0cf5c02.jpg  
> 7) Have a good night!


	3. Resetting the World Despite the Warnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Mark continue their liberation, but find an unexpected enemy...Will this be their first challenge?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter actaully took me a while to get out. I re-wrote some of it at least twice and added some stuff here and there. Anywho, let's get to the chapter! There will be blood and stuff! And sorry if my fight scenes suck. I cannot write a fight scene for shit.

Jack was biting his lip in worry as Mark and Undyne faced off, exchanging blow after blow, attacking and dodging each other’s attacks at every front. Her eye was Undyne’s only weak spot, making it easier to attack her from the right, but as if she knew that would happen, she made sure to always keep Mark to her left. Mark was holding his own, but Jack could feel Mark’s exhaustion through their bond and was worried. He wouldn’t last much longer after this. He was gradually slowing, his attacks getting sloppier by the second.

_“Mark, are you okay?”_

“I’ll be fine,” Mark replied, trying to slash at Undyne but failing. “I just need to keep on my toes. She’s really strong.”

_“But you’re hurt!”_

“Nothing I can’t handle.” Mark jumped back, fluidly avoiding a spear that would have hit in in the chest. _‘I know Undyne’s weak spot,’_ Mark thought, making sure to keep that thought away from Jack. _‘I just need to bring up Alphys and wait for her to lower her guard, then get her from the left. She thinks guarding her left is keeping her alive, but she’ll expect me to get her from the right. Which is going to be her downfall.’_

“Undyne, you don’t really think you’re going win here, right? Your liberation is at hand; you just don’t see it.” He dodged another hit. “Jack and I are trying to make you happy.”

“W-What?” Undyne stuttered in her last attack, giving Mark ample time to kick her in the chest. “What do you mean ‘Jack and I?’”

Mark swiped at her with the knife, catching Undyne’s cheek. A bit of blood dripped from the wound, but Undyne paid it no mind as she swung her spear in a circle, the end of it catching Mark in the end. He stumbled, blinded for a moment as Undyne kicked him in return. He groaned in pain as he landed in the hard snow, the impact stunning him.

“What’re you goin’ on about? Jack and I? Last I checked, humans were just one person.” Undyne didn’t lower her guard, but she placed her foot on Mark’s chest. “Start talking human! What’re you doing here and why’ve you been murdering monsters?!”

_“Mudering?”_

“Liberating,” Mark corrected, feeling Jack’s concern through their bond. Mark knew he could easily play it off as Undyne misunderstanding their intentions, but he needed to keep Jack at bay while they fought. “We’re liberating monsters. I know what happened. You weren’t happy on the surface as we figured out, and now we’re liberating you, sending you to a better place. That’s what we want. To make everyone happy.” Jack’s concern melted away, replaced with more worry over Mark’s condition.

Undyne threw her next attack, a multitude of spears from all different directions. Mark managed to deflect some of them, but their SOUL was attacked by numerous spears, which forced Mark to his hands and knees from the pain. He tried to raise up onto one knee, but Undyne kicked him dead in his face, knocking him back again. Mark grabbed his nose, rolling out of the way as Undyne slammed a spear down, which hit the spot he would have been in had he not moved. Mark got to his feet, staggering once more. He wiped his nose, feeling something warm on his hand, and pulled it back to see a spot of blood. He glared at Undyne, picking up his knife and getting a better grip on it. Undyne smirked, twirling her spear and pointing at him in obvious invitation.

Mark put his hands up to shield himself as Undyne charged him, ducking low. Mark tripped backwards, trying to avoid what she was doing, but an uppercut sent him back into the snow again. He skid back, a large snow pile gathering around him as he almost went over the edge of a cliff. He picked himself up and chanced a look over his shoulder, seeing a sheer drop into icy water down below. It wouldn’t be pretty if they ended up falling down there. He had to make sure they didn’t fall.

“You don’t want to hurt us. If you do, you’ll never have a chance at happiness,” Mark said, trying to inch away from the edge. But Undyne blocked his way, preventing him from dodging around her.

Undyne paused again. “I don’t know what you’re going on about, but all I know is that you’re insane, and a murder. And I won’t let you get away with this!” She slammed her elbow into his chest, making him fall back, almost over the edge. He could feel the cold breeze on the back of his neck, and if he tilted his head back he would get dizzy from seeing the drop. But he had to survive! For Jack!

_“Mark! Please be careful!”_

_“I’ve got this! Just let me focus Séan!”_ Mark shouted through the link, feeling Jack get scared and go silent almost immediately. His presence went cold soon after, leaving Mark with a bad feeling in his stomach. He hadn’t meant to yell at Jack like that, but he was scared, and was trying not to show how much he was actually afraid that they were going to die here. Yes, they could always RESET, but he would feel like he failed Jack if they did. He promised not to hurt Jack, so he was going to do his best to protect him. By any means necessary.

“Oh. So you’d rather leave Alphys here to suffer?” Mark said, trying to draw Undyne’s focus away from her attacks.

It was clear that Mark’s words struck a point. Undyne froze in the middle of her attack, her spear lowering slightly. Her foot was on his neck, pushing down slightly and taking Mark’s breath away. “What did you say?”

“You love Alphys. You want what’s best for her, don’t you? Don’t you want to save her from this? She’s not happy the way she is; all lonely without any friends, when even her own creation teases her. The one she loves doesn’t even see her suffering.” Mark smirked. Her guard was going down more and more. “How can you claim to love her when you aren’t doing your best to help her? That’s selfish of you Undyne. Really selfish.”

“Y-You…How do you know all of this?!” Her guard had almost fully dropped by now, but it was all Mark needed. He knocked her foot away, making her stagger back, and he charged forward, ducking to the right. Undyne was quick to bring up her spear on that side, but Mark skid to the left at the last moment and struck, slamming the knife into her shoulder. Undyne screamed, and Mark took his chance again, pulling the knife out and slashing downwards. The cut went from her shoulder all the way down to her waist, blood spraying the air. He smirked as Undyne stumbled back, trying in vain to cover her wound, but she wouldn’t survive this one. She fought a good fight, but Mark was the winner.

“Feel free to pray to your savior that you’ll go to the right place,” Mark stated with a sick smile. “Spoiler alert: because you attacked me, I might not listen.”

“I-If you even d-d-dare…to get near Al-Alphys…I _will_ be back,” she gasped, choking on blood. “To kill you.”

Mark grabbed Undyne by her shoulders and spun them around, pushing Undyne to the cliffs edge. She teetered on the edge of the precipice, her blood loss disorienting her and making it hard for her to keep her balance. The rocks were slowly beginning to crumble under her, leaving her less and less room to balance. She glared harshly at Mark, who switched control back to Jack as Undyne’s SOUL slowly began to shatter, her body dissolving. As more and more of her body disappeared, Jack gave her shattering form a push over the edge.

She was dead before she hit the bottom.

Jack watched as the breeze picked up, some of the dust from Undyne floating back up and sticking onto the wet blood on his clothes. The rest of the dust fluttered to the bottom, slowly floating away in the water. He brushed some of the dust off of him, but more still remained.

“She’ll be happy,” Jack remarked in the silence. “At least, once we have Alphys with her.”

His words were sad, but not because of what happened to Undyne. But when Mark had yelled at him…h felt alone. He had spilt from Mark for a moment and he had a quick flashback to the moments he was thrown out of his house. That loneliness was creeping up on him again in the time that Mark was gone.

Was he still mad? He was lonely…

_“I’m sorry you had to see that Baby Boy.”_

“Hmm?” Jack turned to look at Mark, whose form was hunched over. “What do you mean?”

_“…I never want you to see me lose it like that Jack. All I want to do is help you, but some monsters make it hard to understand. And I showed you a side…I feel like…something back there showed you a side of me I never wanted you to see.”_ He sighed, looking like he wanted to grab Jack’s hand but refraining.

“Mark, I didn’t see any new side of you,” Jack said, even though he knew he was lying. “In fact, all I saw was the same side that’s always been here. I wasn’t helping you back there and you needed to pay attention. I’m sorry I caused you to lose focus.” He reached out to grab Mark’s hand. “I still love you Mark.” The warm feeling had returned. He was stupid to think that Mark was going to leave him. He really needed to learn to stop doubting Mark. He was only doing what was best.

_“Thank you Baby Boy. That means a lot to me. And I love you too.”_

“Let’s go,” Jack said softly. “I’m hungry.”

_“I think there’s only one place we can go.”_

~Grillby’s~

Empty.

Devoid.

Lifeless.

Dull.

Cold.

Grillby’s used to be a place of fun, where monsters gathered together to enjoy their time together, to be happy and just enjoy each other’s company. A place where people enjoyed good food around people they cared about. Grillby, though quiet and usually focused on his work, created a warm atmosphere (no pun intended) that people seemed to enjoy. A placed that people actively sought out because they loved it there. A place some could call…home.

Instead, it was now barren, a dark empty room that was only lit by the glow of small candles. They were on every table leading to the bar, where Grillby stood alone, in front the bar. His posture belayed his anger, the flames visible on his hair and arms sparking, almost as if they were angry at them. Jack only took three steps and the flames got brighter and brighter.

Jack only had two encounters with Grillby, both of which Grillby were silent, someone translating for him. But now, in this light, Jack was surprised when Grillby opened his mouth to speak.

“We’re closed.”

His voice was smooth, light, and melodious. A rich voice that didn’t seem fitting for a man of his size and stature. Grillby was a large man made of fire, with muscles that didn’t befit someone who just worked as a bartender. They were the arms of a monster who had fought before; the arms of a warrior who gained battle prowess due to many victories. Someone who had seen harsh battles yet hadn’t cracked, only grew from it. His arms showed his prowess. Though they were made of fire, they were still visible, and Jack could see almost every muscle, even against Grillby’s shirt. Some of his form was visible through his vest, showing off a complete build of a trained soldier. Grillby didn’t seem like it, but he was a strong warrior Jack noticed. And he was quiet; Jack assumed that Grillby had been on the shy side, only speaking to Sans in a friendly manner because he knew him on a personal level, or his patrons in polite tones out of respect. But, despite the soothing lit to his voice, Jack and Mark were still concerned by the edge to his voice.

“It’s cold out. I wanted to come out of the chill and into the warmth.”

“I said: We’re Closed.”

“I just wanted some fries,” Jack replied, taking a step forward.

“I do not have to offer service to the likes of you,” Grillby said. “Now get out.”

Jack took another step forward. “Please.”

This time, he laughed. A light, sarcastic sound that once again, didn’t fit him. It was like someone made him the way he was just to throw people off. Like Grillby wasn’t mute or needed someone to translate for him because he was hiding who he really was. Grillby was one of those monsters Jack didn’t have the chance to know, and it would prove fatal now. Grillby wasn’t going to let them leave alive.

“You know,” Grillby said causally as he removed his glasses. “No one really knows this but…I’ve seen things. I’ve seen myself, my friends, this bar…but not the same. I’ve seen myself owning a bakery of all things, seen myself at the bar, but I serve hard liquor and swear like Sans on a bad day; I’m just a brute. I’ve seen myself in a less than flattering manner. I’ve also seen you before.” A few candles at the far table went out as he put his glasses into an inner vest pocket. “You…before. You were a bright and happy kid, playing along with Sans’ dumb jokes and facing prejudice despite monsters seeing you in a different light. You got us to the surface. I thanked you for getting us there.” More candles went out, leaving the bar almost dark. “I was so close to opening another bar up there…I had the key in my hand. I was going to open the door and start the grand opening. Humans and monsters were lined up to get it. I was right there…Then I woke up this morning upstairs, in my room. I remembered all of it…every hour of my past…life. It started all over again. And now, here you are, covered in the blood of people I made happy.” The bar was almost completely devoid of light, save for Grillby, who seemed to be getting brighter by the second. “Sans hasn’t been by at all today. And now I see why. He’s out there doing his best to stop you from doing this anymore. He even asked me to run away from here…but I stubbornly stayed here, despite his warning. I wasn’t about to let some **punk** ,” he growled the word out, glaring at Jack. “Take away the place I call home. I love this place, my friends loved this place, Gaster loved this place…” he seemed to choke on the word ‘Gaster’ but recovered quickly. “And I won’t let you take that away from me.”

He seemed to diminish, like someone snuffing out a flame between their fingers. The bar went completely dark, leaving Jack in total darkness. He couldn’t even see in front of him, but he reached for his trusty knife regardless. He felt Mark grabbed his hand and give it a comforting squeeze. _“Stay on guard.”_

Then suddenly, the bar blazed to life, with Grillby standing there, whole body alight. Jack wasn’t ready as he was forced into this fight against a monster he knew virtually nothing about. Grillby was silent, then spoke once more.

“I’ll serve you.”

_“Be careful Jack!”_ Mark warned. _“We know nothing about Grillby. Stay on your feet.”_

Jack quickly slid left, out of the way of a large fireball. Grillby opened his hands, where large balls of fire rested. His face was stoic, his only thought eliminating Jack. Jack didn’t know what Grillby was capable of, but was forced to think fast as Grillby suddenly lit a candle near him and created a fire pillar, which he sent after Jack. Jack ducked, but the vortex curled and came back at him.

_“Jack!”_

He jumped back, the roaring flame crashing through the window.

~Grillby’s POV~

This kid wasn’t about to leave here alive. I wasn’t going to let him. After everything he did for us before, and he suddenly turned his back on us. He got us to the surface, just to tear away our perfect ending. And for what? To satisfy some sick sort of pleasure?

“You won’t get away from me that easily,” I said, flipping over a table he had been hiding under.

The boy stood, and raised his knife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always imagined Grillby having the voice that Porokiin gave him from pshattuckproduction. I love their comic dubs and I loved their Grillby voice. So, watch a little of their dubs with Grillby just in case you were wondering about a voice for Grillby. I always wanted to know more about Grillby as a character, but no one really had anything on him. It was just up to assumption and fan theory, especially since he wasn't really a main character. So, I decided to give him a little something for this story. And yes, you'll be seeing more of him in this. I actually decided to make him the second strongest monster in the Underground. There is a Grillby fight at the end of the genocide run after you kill Sans, but I actually just found out that it exists. Like, I thought the image I found for the chapter, I thought it was actually fan art someone made for what they thought a fight against Grillby would be like. I feel stupid now because I didn't know it existed. And I never thought to even go back and even check Grillby's at the end of my first genocide run when I played. I just went to the throne room...I'll have to go back and do it because now I'm curious about it. Is he a hard boss? If you guys have done it, can you tell me about it?  
> As for Gaster, that was a re-write I wasn't sure would fit, but decided to throw it in there anyways. I know some people might be mad that I added the Gaster x Grillby since they didn't have any interaction at all, but I thought it worked pretty well to give Grillby a little more backstory to him. Yes, I will indulge in more of that later on.  
> And I'm sorry that I killed off Undyne but I had too. She kinda had to die in this.


	4. Dead Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alphys gets the machine working and manages to get a portal to another universe open. However, what will they find there? What are Mark and Jack up to? And what does Gaster have to do with all this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took a while due to procrastination. And I apologize. I also decided to give the characters some more development, even the ones in the Underfell universe. If the development doesn't fit your taste, sorry, but it's my story. They develop the way I see them. Also, we are meeting characters in the Fell Universe.   
> Forewarning: RIP Monster Kid

Love and Genocide

A/N: HERE WE GO! MY FAVORITE SANS!

NOTE: You guys might also hate me for what happens. Forewarning: RIP Monster Kid.

~Lab~

Grillby sighed as he finally made it to the Lab, noticing how empty the underground was as of late. No one came along to warn him, or offer shelter. Everything was devoid of all life. He knew that there were measures to keep the monsters safe ever since the human had first started his attack, but he hadn’t known how fast it would actually happen. Alphys probably had transporters or something around that helped her get the monsters to her easier.

Or, Grillby could’ve been waiting around for the human even longer than he thought…

He was exhausted though. The trip all the way down here was tiring because Grillby didn’t have a way to get to Hotland faster, and it was a long way from his bar all the way to the Lab. He had nothing to eat, no time to stop, and he didn’t want to risk slowing down in case the human was trailing him. He wasn’t strong enough to handle him right now, even if Gaster decided to offer some help. But now that he found the Lab, maybe things would change. Maybe they could change something.

“Sans!” He called, banging on the door for dear life. “Sans! Alphys! Someone, please open the door!”

For a few moments, he didn’t hear anything from the other side. Just silence, and the humming of machines, but he couldn’t hear anything else. Perhaps they left already…Or did the human get to the Lab before him? That thought left a bad feeling in his stomach…Had he been stronger, maybe he could’ve stopped him.

Before he could curse his bad luck, the door opened and a breathless Sans stood at the door. Grillby opened his mouth to make a little joke, but all of a sudden he had an armful of smol skeleton. Shocked, Grillby stumbled back as Sans began talking breathlessly.

“Grillz! i’ve never been gladder to see your flaming face!” He said sincerely, squeezing Grillby as hard as he could manage. He couldn’t think much about anything else other than making sure his friend and father figure was okay.

Grillby coughed a little, trying to pry Sans off. “Sans, did you really believe that I was going to let that human harm me?”

Sans pulled away and chuckled, pulling out his lucky bottle of ketchup. “well, i knew somethin’ was off with that kid, and i knew he was a weird one. I had hoped he woulda spared you at least but…”

Grillby sighed, adjusting his glasses. “Sans, you and I both know that something happened between the last…lifetime, and this one.” He saw Sans look down at his feet, as if ashamed. “Whatever happened, it warped that kid and he RESET, so now we’re here, having to deal with him having become a nightmare. And I think he’s past the point of sparing anyone.”

Sans sighed, taking a drink of ketchup. “i-i know…it’s just that…i tried to stop ‘im. there was always another human around him, and i never thought much about him until i saw him whispering to the kid. And then he started to listen. ‘course, i tried to talk him out of it but…well, here we are.”

Grillby sighed again, taking the ketchup from Sans and taking a drink. He only swallowed a sip when he recoiled in disgust, the bitter taste nearly making him gag. “Sans? Is this-“

“what?” Sans shrugged. “it takes the edge off, y’know?”

Grillby looked at the bottle again. “Aren’t things a little too serious for you to be drinking right now?”

“don’t see why i shouldn’t. takes _a lot_ more than that to get me wasted.”

Grillby took another long glance at it before shrugging and downing the whole thing in one go, this time not flinching at the taste. Sans was right. Why shouldn’t he be drinking? Thing were stressful enough as it was and he was not in the mood to deal with anything right now.

Sans tore the bottle away and shook it a little, chuckling. “geez. i thought you didn’t particularly like alcohol. should you really be getting drunk?”

“I don’t see why I shouldn’t. Hypocrite.” He brushed past him and staggered into the Lab, seeing some monsters huddled together, some in an entirely different room, and some were crying. Alphys was scurrying around, pressing buttons, checking monitors, and making sure all kinds of other things were in their proper order. And Papyrus was in a corner, looking sadly at something in his hands. Grillby swayed a little, the alcohol slowly kicking in.

“What is Alphys doing?”

“she said that Gaster had an old machine that was still functioning. just a few tweaks and she said she thinks she can get us out of here.”

Grillby wrung his hands nervously. “Sans, the last time we tinkered with one of Gaster’s machines-“

“we know,” Sans interrupted. “but that kid will find us. the Underground isn’t that big, nor do we have too many places to hide. it’s literally our only shot left at survival.”

Grillby felt a ghostly touch on his upper arm and bowed his head. He and Gaster both knew the risk of doing this, but it was the last shot. He just hoped it wouldn’t backfire on them.

~Waterfall~

“M-Mark, wait,” Jack panted, trying to find something to grab onto but unable due to their position. “Ah!” Mmm~”

Mark chuckled, his breath tickling Jacks’ ear. “But Baby Boy, you said we could play.” He rotated his hips and slammed back into Jack, making the younger gasp and flail as he tried to find something to steady himself. His body was on fire even though the pelting water was freezing. Mark had made him feel like this before, but that was just simple petting. This time however, he could focus on nothing but Mark, his hands, his teeth, his tongue. Only Mark could do this to him, give him this rush.

_~Earlier~_

_“Mmm,” Mark moaned as he pulled away, licking his lips. “I want to play some more Baby Boy. Let’s play, shall we?”_

_There was only one possible answer Jack could give._

_“Yes,” he whispered. “Let’s play.”_

_Mark grinned, turning Jack around so that they were facing one another. He took a moment to look all over Jack and run his hands over the younger’s body. “You’re so beautiful Jack. I like your skin, that sexy look you get when you really want me, the cute blush on your face,” he licked Jack’s cheek. “I love everything about you Baby Boy.” He pulled Jack into a deep kiss, cupping Jack’s face. Jack moaned, gripping Mark’s strong shoulders as Mark bit his lower lip, sucking it into his mouth and nibbling on it. A low moan slipped from Jack’s mouth, making him embarrassed by the noises he was making. ‘But Mark’s making me dizzy…I can’t focus on anything.’_

_Mark pulled away, smirking at Jack. “I’m glad I make you feel that way Baby Boy.”_

_Jack blushed when he realized that he let that thought slip through. Mark chuckled and kissed his cheek. “No need to be embarrassed. You’re so cute.” He brought them into another steamy kiss, his fingers applying the barest of pressure as they circled his nipples. Goosebumps broke out on his skin as Mark began toying with him, his tongue twirling with Jack’s. He moaned low in his throat, then gasped as Mark pinched his nipple, then rubbed over it in apology. The tug didn’t hurt, but Jack could feel himself swell as his body heated up. He felt heady, light, and like he would faint if Mark wasn’t holding him up._

_“You’re so cute,” Mark breathed in his ear, his hands wandering down to Jack’s chest. Jack keened as Mark’s teeth closed over his right nipple, strong fingers rolling his other. The stimulation was foreign to Jack and he almost wanted to pulled away, but he couldn’t. Mark was touching him and doing things to him that he wasn’t able to do. Mark would occasionally switch sides, making sure that both sides of Jack’s body were stimulated._

_For the longest time, Mark teased him with hands and mouth only, leaving Jack whining for more. He squirmed in Mark’s arms, body beginning to heat and breathless monas leaving his mouth. Mark chuckled, releasing the now red nipple and kissing downwards. Jack leaned his head back as Mark began kissing lower and lower, until finally-_

_“Aahh! Mark~” He keened as his whole length was suddenly brought into a warm, wet place before he even registered what happened. Mark hummed, which traveled up Jack’s length and made Jack shiver. Mark’s hands were still teasing his nipples as he sucked Jack off, swirling his tongue around the head. Jack bucked his hips in want, then whimpered as Mark gave a sharp warning nip to his length. The hands disappeared, one smoothing up his thigh, while the other slowly began trailing up the back of his thigh. Jack was too focused on Mark’s sucking to notice much else, but he did feel when a wet finger began probing at his tight entrance. “M-Mark, wait,” he panted._

_Mark pulled away with an audible pop and stared up at Jack. “Shh. Don’t worry Baby Boy. It’ll be fine. Do you trust me?”_

_Jack whimpered. “W-Will it hurt?”_

_“Just a bit darling. But something much better will come after; I promise.”_

_To prove his point, Mark inserted the finger slowly. Jack immediately tried to push it back out, but Mark made calming noises and began carefully stimulating him from inside. He eventually began to loosen up, but it was still a foreign sensation. Mark began licking at the head of his length to distract him as he added a second finger, this one slipping in a little easier than the first. Jack didn’t realize it, but he was grinding against Mark’s fingers, the sensations going straight to his groin._

_“Beautiful,” Mark whispered, kissing his stomach. “You look beautiful. I want you so badly.”_

_“T-Take me,” Jack moaned._

_“I want to, but I can’t,” Mark replied. “You aren’t ready yet, and I can’t just take what I want. Be patient.”_

_“Maaaark,” he whined. “Please. I need you.”_

_Mark gulped. He **really** wanted Jack, but he couldn’t just go in and take it. He didn’t want to hurt Jack, but it was getting harder and harder to not dive and claim Jack as his own. Mark had to reign in his hormones or else he’d unwittingly hurt Jack. He was careful in his preparation of Jack, knowing the younger didn’t know what he was talking about. He may have said that he really wanted Mark, but he didn’t know what he was talking about. It would hurt, and Mark didn’t want that._

_It took a few more minutes before Mark felt like Jack was ready, and he removed his hand from Jack. The whole time, Jack had been whining and moaning, testing Mark’s control, but now that he was finished, Jack was begging like a whore._

_“Please Mark! Do it now!” Jack begged. “I need it!”_

_Mark grinned, rubbing the head of his cock against Jack’s entrance. “Ready?”_

_“Mark!” Jack complained._

_Mark slowly slid into Jack, cooing and shushing the younger male as he winced, biting his lip in pain. Mark kissed behind his ear, encouraging Jack with teasing little petting and naughty words. Jack was breathing heavily, gripping Mark’s hand, which was on his waist. After a few minutes, Jack turned his head to look at Mark. “What’re you waiting for?”_

_Mark growled. So Jack wanted to play like that? Mark circled his hips and pushed in the last little bit he could, feeling himself brush a little bundle inside of Jack. He pulled back and thrust forward, starting a steady rhythm that had Jack gasping loudly and moaning under him. Realizing how he sounded, Jack slapped a hand over his mouth, trying to stop the sounds from coming out. But Mark was having none of that. He pulled back and slammed in, jamming his head into the spot he found earlier. Jack choked on a gasp and shouted out loudly, head falling forward. “O-Oohhh Mark,” Jack moaned. “T-There!”_

_Mark grinned, encouraged by the sounds he was hearing. And now that he knew where he was supposed to hit, he quickened his pace, slamming into Jack with almost reckless abandon. Like he was an animal, and Jack was his pray. He grinded into Jacks’s sweet spot, hearing the boy **purr.** The sound was foreign to him, a sound Mark didn’t know that Jack was even capable of making, but Mark wanted to draw out more of it. “Fuck Baby Boy,” Mark moaned. “You...You’re so fucking tight.”_

_Jack rolled his hips back into Mark’s, trying to create more friction between them. “Harder,” Jack moaned. “Please. Harder!”_

_Mark gripped his hips tighter. Jack didn’t realize what he asked for as Mark pulled all the way out, spread him a little further apart, and slammed back in._

_~Present Time~_

Jack felt the water running over him, cooling his body even though his body was on fire. Mark _was_ an animal, grunts and growling instead of usual sounds. Jack didn’t recognize this side of Mark, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. Mark was hitting him in the exact perfect spot, and Jack let all of the Underground know that Mark made him feel like this. Jack felt like he was going to explode, and he was all the more aroused at the idea of reaching the peak. He ground his hips back shouted, his back arching. “M-Mark~!”

Mark grinned, turning Jack’s head and pulling him into a violent kiss.  Something extremely new sparked in Jack and he didn’t care about the pace. He didn’t care about the bruises. All he cared about was the fact that Mark was here with him. He was beyond words as Mark’s thrusts became wild and he went to town of Jack’s body. He pushed on Jack’s back, forcing him forward. “Grab your legs and hold on,” Mark commanded.

Jack grabbed onto his ankles, basically folding in on himself as Mark pounded into him. Mark’s head was thrown back as he abused Jack’s hole, his hips moving faster than he thought possible. He grabbed Jack’s ass, spreading him even wider. Jack was drowning in pleasure, unable to hold on any longer. “Maaaark~! Ahhhhnnnn~!” he keened in his throat. “YEEEEEES!”

“Fuck Baby Boy!” Mark groaned. “You’re so fucking tight! I can’t hold on any longer!”

Jack didn’t answer, he couldn’t answer as Mark thrust into him with a few harsher thrusts.  He just felt himself about to break open. Jack was done. White blinded his vision, pleasure ripped through his system, and he screamed.

_“AAAAAAAAAAHHHH! MAAAAAAAAARK~!”_

“Shit!” Mark cursed, feeling Jack tighten around him to unbearable points. “I’m cumming Baby Boy! Shit I’m cumming!”

Jack moaned happily, feeling heat spread through him like a flood. He was overtaken with pleasure, going limp as Mark shouted behind him, his animalistic yell echoing through the area. Jack felt Mark moving a few times behind him, the rhythm his hips stuttered. He was speaking, asking Jack something, but his hazy mind didn’t register it.

Jack passed out.

~LAB~

“You’re crazy,” Grillby said as soon as he laid eyes on the machine. “This will never work.”

“Gaster may have been a genius, but even this is something beyond him,” Sans agreed. “Alphys, this is exactly what got Gaster sent to the Void. if you do this, the human won’t even need to try to kill us; we’ll be erased anyways.”

“But what happened to him proves that it can work!” Alphys protested. “Sure, he got lost, but the Void is just the space between realities. Gaster got stuck, but he proved that they were out there; there are different realities and spaces between them. If we escape to a new reality, the human can’t chase us!”

Grillby saw the merit in the plan, but also the risk. And there was a lot of risk. The pro was that they would all be safe, even if they were in the Void. Heck, Grillby would get to be reunited with his lover. But would losing their entire existence be worth it? What would the Void even be like? Would they be able to feel? To recognize who they even are anymore? To find one another? What if the Void was a huge place of nothingness and they all got separated? There was too much to think about, too many consequences. “Alphys, are you sure there aren’t any other plans? This voyage into the same place that Gaster was erased in…No one but us three even remember who he is, who the other scientists were, and what they were doing. Do you really want that to happen? To have all of us erased like that?”

Alphys sighed. “We’re really running out of options. If the Human manages to get here, we’re all dead. We have no way to escape. The barrier keeps us from leaving and there isn’t any other place in the Underground that we can go to be safe. We have to risk going in there. Besides, if you think about it, the Void is just the space between worlds; Gaster proved that there are other worlds out there, and spaces between them. If we can just open a rift into the world and not got caught between them, we won’t get erased.”

Grillby contemplated this. He remembered the day Gaster told him all of this. Gaster had been trying to explain his thesis, how there might be another world like the Underground where the barrier isn’t intact, and how if he could just open a rift to that world, they’d be at the Surface, but the Surface of another world. He also explained that the world would be slightly different, but still a world. Still the Surface... Grillby loved hearing about this, but he asked about potential dangers. Gaster has assured that there weren’t many dangers, and that the damage would be minimal at best.

And he was a damn liar.

But with someone like Alphys, who worked closely with Gaster, and Sans, who basically grew up in the Lab, they had a little bit more of a chance. Maybe…Just maybe it would work. But the risk…

“I still can’t agree with this,” Grillby murmured. “There’s just too many risks…” He covered his face with his hands, feeling another pair of ghostly hands on his shoulders. “I-I’m sorry. I need to go…clear my head.”

Alphys bit her lip as Grillby walked off. “I didn’t mean to be so pushy,” she mumbled. “I-I’m just trying to save everyone.”

“it’s alright Al,” Sans comforted. “Grillby just…well, he was really in love with dadster, and still is. when Paps, Fuku, and i were growin’ up, Grillby was always around. he was our second father. we thought it was gross that they were always so mushy together, but since dad was happy, we didn’t mind. they had a relationship that would last forever. but when dadster had the accident…Grillby wasn’t the same.” He looked down at his ketchup. “Grillby isn’t mute, like many people think, and he’s not quiet. Sometimes, dadster couldn’t shut him up, but in a good way. Before he met dad, Grillby didn’t speak too much. Once they were together, he’d smile a lot more, laugh…he was bright like the sun.”

Alphys chuckled at the little joke. Then she frowned when she realized that there was more to the story. “But…he was always so quiet.”

“Yeah…because after the accident, he lost everything. Of course he had me and Paps, and Fuku, but it wasn’t enough. He lost the only man he ever loved was gone.” He grimaced. “The real messed up part? It was their anniversary. Grillby had come by to pick up Dadster when it happened. It was going to be a surprise for him.”

Alphys gasped. “You mean-“

“Yeah. Gaster’s anniversary surprise was trying to show Grillby the Surface. He was going to let Grillby be the first to see the stars.”

~Waterfall~

When Jack finally woke up, he was wrapped in Mark’s arms, the older who was humming a little melody into his ear. Jack blinked his eyes open, yawning.

“Have a good nap Baby Boy?” Mark whispered, stroking a lock of green out of Jack’s eyes.

Jack nodded. He felt wonderful, but there was a throbbing pain in his lower back. “But I can’t move.”

Mark chuckled. “It’s alright. I lost control of myself there. I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“You’d never.” Jack smiled. “You promised you’d never hurt me.” He moved slightly, feeling Mark shift as well. His movement brought attention to something else down below. Mark had never pulled out.

“Mark?” He questioned, blushing furiously. “You’re still-“

“I was going to after you passed out, but you mumbled something about not wanting it to leak, so I stayed with you.” He thrust his hips lightly, making Jack moan. But they didn’t have the time…They really couldn’t.

“W-We can’t,” Jack gasped. “We need to go.”

Mark seemed to pout, rolling his hips. “Are you sure?”

Jack keened a bit and tried to move away, but he was finding it hard to focus. “Y-Yes,” he stuttered. “We should go…”

Mark sighed, gently pulling out of Jack. The younger groaned at the feeling of Mark leaving him, and felt even more disappointed when he felt something dripping out of him. He did want to stay like this, but there was too much to do.

“Do you want to take control?” Jack asked, watching as Mark began to redress.

Mark smiled. “We don’t have to switch control anymore Baby Boy. I’m just as real as you are.”

Jack titled his head. “W-What? What do you mean?”

Mark chuckled. “Cute. You’re adorable Baby Boy. What I mean is that the more you desired me, the more I became real. Since that first night, your will for be to become real became stronger and stronger, until I was just as Human as you are. So now, no more switching. We can do this together.”

Jack tried not to let his disappointment show. He actually liked the closeness they had being together the way they were. Having Mark as a presence in his mind was something he hated at first, but he gotten used to it, then loved it. Them being separated made him upset…

“Aw, Baby Boy.” Jack was suddenly swept into a warm hug. “It’s okay. We’re still close. I can still read your thoughts and emotions. We’re still together, and we’re still close. You don’t have to feel upset.” He grinned evilly. “Besides, now I can do this.”

Jack yelped as Mark swept him up his arms, his naked body pressing into Mark’s clothed one. He could feel a strong heartbeat against his side. “Mark!” He blushed. “Put me down!”

Mark chuckled. “I actually like this way.”

“But I’m still naked!”

“Mmm. Not too much of a bad thing to me.”

He blushed, wriggling out of Mark’s hold. The older seemed really disappointed that he had moved out of his grasp, but Jack ignored him for a moment, searching for his clothes. He spied them not too far away, dry even in the dampness of the area. He picked up his shirt, blushing even harder when Mark whistled. Realizing his mistake, Jack quickly sat on the ground and began pulling his clothes on, paying no attention to Mark’s whining. When he was finally fully clothed, he sighed in defeat.

“Our knife is gone,” he mumbled. “It melted back in Grillby’s arm.”

“I know.” Mark folded his arms. “We don’t have a weapon with us. We could always go find one, but they’d be dull or mere toys. We could raid Undyne’s house and see what she has. Or, we could go straight to the Lab. I know that Alphys has weapons lying around that were made for Mettaton. We could find one there.”

Jack tried to think of the last place he had a weapon. The last place that even held weapons. The last two weapons he had seen where the axes Dogamy and Dogressa had. And when they were liberated, Jack didn’t remember the axes going over with them. Perhaps those would work…?

“If you think you can wield those heavy things, go ahead,” Mark said, probably having read his thoughts. “But if it might slow you down, don’t even bother.”

Jack shrugged. “It’s the only option we have.”

~Lab~

A hand stroked over the pink poster, eyes roaming over the text. Everything was going badly, not just for him, but the whole Underground. And he couldn’t stand for that. In fact, he wasn’t going to. He was built for this, and he was going to fulfill his primary directive.

“Sorry darling,” he said, flexing his body and making sure he was up to full capability. “But this can’t go on any longer. I have a home to protect.”

~LINEBREAK~

Alphys jumped when the wall exploded, hand immediately reaching towards a remote in her pocket. If it was the Human, the defense system would kick in, targeting anything that wasn’t a monster. It was something she installed last minute, and while it was lousy for a rush job, it could potentially harm the Human, maybe even kill him due to the sheer amount of power Alphys messily packed into the system. But she calmed down when a pink boot slyly peaked out from the wreckage, followed by a well-defined leg.

“Sorry about that Alphys,” the silky robotic voice said. “I’m just dying to get out there and stretch my fabulous legs.”

Alphys shook her head, catching the implication almost immediately. “M-Mettaton! It’s too dangerous to go out there! That Human could kill you!”

Mettaton clenched his fist. “Acceptable losses. If one star has to go out for the rest to shine on, then so be it.”

“B-But you can’t!” Alphys protested. “We already have a plan, and I know the Human isn’t on his way here! He was at Waterfall last I checked, and he was still there! There’s no reason for you to needlessly risk your life!”

“Mettaton,” Sans said quietly. “i won’t let you go. i don’t watch your show, but my brother does, and he loves it. he already lost Undyne. if he finds out that you died…Papyrus will lose all hope. you _are_ the star of the Underground, and you’re also his star. so please…for the rest of the monsters here, don’t go after the Human.”

Mettaton sighed, one hand on his cheek. “I never want to disappoint a fan,” he murmured. “I guess I’ll stay.” Unbeknownst to them, Mettaton had the fingers of his other hand crossed. If that Human even stepped into Hotland, then Mettaton was going to stop him, regardless of who tried to stop him.

~Humans~

Jack picked up the axe and tested the weight. It was actually lighter than he thought, easy to carry around, and had a decently sharp blade. He wouldn’t get exhausted trying to carry it around, and he could swing it and not lose too much strength. It would work for now.

Mark picked up the other axe and twirled it in his hand. His was a little heavier, but still easy to wield. He playfully crossed axes with Jack. “What a pair we make. But we should test them out on something.” He heard the crunch of snow behind them and grinned. “And I believe we found a subject.”

Jack looked past him and spied a familiar yellow and brown striped shirt. For a brief moment, memories of hanging out with the boy came to mind, and Jack felt his heart clench uncomfortably. _‘Monster Kid? What is he doing here?’_

The yellow monster tried to look brave. “Y-You’d b-better st-stop r-r-right where you…” he gulped. “Where y-you a-are.”

Mark chuckled. “Cute kid. But what can you do? Your precious hero Undyne isn’t here to save you this time.”

Monster Kid stood his ground. “I-I won’t let you hurt anyone a-anymore,” he stuttered, eyes going wide in fear as Mark stepped closer to him.

Mark smirked. Well, it was as good as any monster to test his new blade on. “What will you do if I _keep_ hurting people?”

“I’ll stop you! For Undyne!” With a battle cry, he charged at Mark.

Jack closed his eyes. He didn’t want to watch. For once since they started, he questioned whether or not he should stop this. Monster Kid was…just a kid. He still had a life ahead of him, one they were wrongly forcing away from him to go to another one. Was it right to liberate those who didn’t have a chance to see if their life was worth giving up?

Jack opened his eyes, hearing a choked gasp. He could barely hold back a scream. He knew they were doing this for a good cause, but did it have to be so harsh?

Mark had Monster Kid’s neck against the blade his axe, his foot on the boy’s neck. Monster Kid was struggling, but not too much that it was going to harm him. His struggles slowly died down to trembling as the blade nicked his neck, a small drop of blood dripping onto the blade. The kid sniffled, trying not to show fear but desperately failing.

Above him, Mark was smirking as he easily held Monster Kid down. “Was that it? Pathetic. You deserve this!”

“Please don’t kill me!” Monster Kid begged. “I won’t tell anyone! I won’t try to stop you ever again! Just please don’t kill me!”

Mark hummed in mock thought. “Maybe if you say it nicely.”

“Please don’t-“

_SHINK!_

Mark slammed his foot down, decapitating Monster Kid with one stomp. Jack would never forget his terrified expression. The look of fear in his eyes, his mouth twisted in an expression of horror, body still tense with fear. Blood coated the bottom of his neck where it was severed, blood still spurting from the body.

 _‘The blade was pretty good,’_ Jack thought numbly, the only conscious thought in his mind. _‘The cut was clean.’_

Other than that, all thoughts in his mind were jumbled.

~Lab~

“they don’t even spare remorse for a child,” Sans growled, watching Monster Kid’s head roll near the snow poff that held the camera. The other human, the one with red hair, stalked over to the snow poff and slammed the axe down, effectively destroying the camera. “that’s it. that’s it! i’m gonna kill that kid!”

“Sans wait!” Alphys protested, grabbing his sleeve. “You can’t! He’ll kill you!”

“i can’t just let him kill any more innocent monsters! he killed a kid, and you expected me to just wait around for you to finish?! no! I’m going out there to kill him myself!” Sans didn’t wait for an answer and stomped towards the exit, fuming. His eye was already alight, hand glowing with blue magic. Any memories he had of Jack were erased in that fell swoop, leaving only thought of murdering him in its place. He didn’t ever care about the potential risks, he just wanted that kid dead!

He was about to force the door open when he saw webs all over the exit. They were everywhere, with Mettaton stuck to one web by the door. Sans looked around in shock. “Muffet did this? but why?”

Mettaton looked put out by the whole thing. “That disgusting spider decided to take her ‘pets’ and exterminate our human problem herself. When I tried to stop her, a bunch of those little bastards tied me up and I haven’t been able to escape.” He glared down at Grillby. “That hothead over there refuses to burn the webs away!”

“…” Grillby just looked up at Mettaton and turned away.

Sans felt another cold pit. “But…Muffet probably won’t even…”

“Sans!” Alphys called. “Sans, come quick!”

Sans ran to where Alphys had been, seeing her excitedly pointing towards a door. “Sans! I think we did it!” She ran through the door, gesturing for him to follow. Sans cautiously looked through the door, then stepped through. “what did you do?”

“I fixed it! I fixed it!” It was the happiest Sans had seen her since this whole thing happened. “I can save all of us!”

Sans looked at the machine in awe. Whatever it was, there was a large portal of red light flashing, messy shapes visible through the rift. A closer look revealed that the shapes were actually people, or monsters. But there was an odd miasma of malice coming from the portal. Standing there, Sans felt slightly scared. What was this world? Was it a mirror of the Surface they had once had to suffer through? And the colors…red, black, and grays were all Sans could see as he peered closer.

What kind of world was it?

“Alphys…where is this exactly?” Sans asked. “this look…dangerous…”

“I don’t know honestly,” Alphys answered. “But it’s away from the Human and it could be safer than staying here. Maybe whoever lives in that universe is friendly.”

Sans doubted it. It just seemed like there were too many risks…

“fine. but i’ll go check it out first. just to be safe…we don’t need anyone getting hurt. i’ll see what the deal is, try to convince them to let us stay, and hopefully it’ll offer some kind of protection.”

“B-But Sans! If you go and something happens to you, then what about Papyrus?”

“i’m just checking to make sure everything is okay,” Sans replied. “i’ll be sure to make it back in one piece. no need to worry.”

“That’s enough reason to worry! You already said that there might be something dangerous in there, you don’t need to die!”

“Then I’ll go…” Grillby said quietly. “I don’t really have much to lose. Fuku is all grown up, Sans and Papyrus can take care of themselves, Gaster is lost somewhere in there, and my bar burned to the ground. I can risk losing myself in the Void since I have nothing left to lose in the real world. It won’t bother me.”

“no.” Sans shook his head. “not you. i’m not losing my other father out there. i won’t forgive you if you go out there.”

Grillby chuckled. “It’ll be alright Sans.”

“…that’s exactly what Dadster said,” Sans grumbled quietly. “and look what happened.”

Grillby sighed. Sans was the oldest, so it was still a sore spot talking about Gaster. Papyrus and Fuku weren’t there during the accident, and ended up forgetting (or maybe because the Void caused everyone but Sans, Grillby, and Alphys to forget about him unless they were hit by a random beam from the meltdown), so they had little to no memory of what happened, but Sans never forgot, especially since he was there when it happened. He didn’t hate Gaster for what he did, but he didn’t like what Gaster claimed he ‘had to do’ for them. Sans still held a grudge for that to this day.

“Sans-“

“if you think that i’ll just let you do that, risk losing you, and then walk around knowing that everyone but me forgot you, i’ll never forgive you.”

Grillby folded his arms. “Then who do you propose we send? Anyone can be lost in the Void and forgotten. We have no one to send at this point.”

Sans sighed. “i know but…” he groaned. “i’d say let’s try to trick the Human, but even that is risky. if he suspects that something is wrong, he’ll try and find us.”

“B-But…well…I’ve messed up so much lately…and…maybe I can find Undyne somewhere…”

“that’s out of the question!” Sans shouted. “Undyne won’t be out there! Undyne’s dead…and the dead aren’t in the Void. she’s gone Alphys! and we’re out of options!”

“W-What?”

The three jumped, whirling around to see Papyrus standing there. Chips and bottles of water fell from his arms as he stared at Sans in shock. He shifted between staring in disbelief at Sans, Alphys, and Grillby. Finally, he spoke.

“U-Undyne…Undyne can’t be dead,” Papyrus whispered. “Undyne was strong…how could the Human manage to-to…” Papyrus scrubbed at his face. “UNDYNE CAN’T BE DEAD! I’LL PROVE IT!” He didn’t look at any of them as he ran.

Straight into the portal.

“Papyrus, no!” Grillby shouted.

But it was too late. With a flash of light, Papyrus was gone.

~Papyrus~

He marched with a purpose, intending on finding Undyne. She couldn’t be dead, she just couldn’t be dead. Maybe she was resting somewhere, or was cooking and got pasta sauce everywhere, like the human…yeah…that was it…

Papyrus looked around the Lab, immediately noticing that something was wrong. When had Alphys redecorated? The dark look didn’t fit her lab. Yeah, Papyrus wasn’t interested in science, but he knew that it didn’t always get this dark in the Lab, at least not since he’d been there…

He navigated the Lab, trying to find Alphys until he bumped into someone.

“Watch it you dick!” A metallic voice shouted.

Papyrsu stumbled, trying to keep his balance and stared up at the figure. He was shocked still. “M-Mettaton? Is it really you?” He threw himself into Mettaton’s arms. “I-I’ve always wanted to meet you Mettaton! You’re my favorite star in the Underground!”

“What’re you blathering on about now? You were never a fan of my torture show. And get off me!”

He was roughly shoved away from Mettaton and stumbled back, managing to catch himself at the last second. That was odd; he thought Mettaton was more the type to accept love from his fans, not reject it. “Mettaton? You look…different. Not at all like the form I saw before I ran off…”

This Mettaton had a red chest plate, red boots, four narrowed red eyes, four arms, and most outstandingly of all…his SOUL was cracked. It was a dark red heart with a giant split down the middle, like major damage was done that was unrepairable. But…Mettton hadn’t gone through anything traumatic, had he?

“Mettaton! Not that you don’t look twice as wonderful as I dreamed, but why is your SOUL cracked?!”

“Why do you care?!” Mettaton hissed. Then the heat from his glare died down, replaced with a empty, glossy eyes. “You never care! ...No one ever cares…” His voice cracked a little at the end, and he rubbed his arms as if he were cold. “They all just want me to kill myself and be done with it…”

“B-But you’re a star!”

“Not to the ungrateful bastards down in the Underground,” Mettaton muttered. “There are only four people I know of who really care about my show…and you were never one of them!”

Papyrus was taken aback. “What? But I love your show! I watch every night!”

Now Mettaton was taken aback. He knew something was off when he saw the garish outfit and lack of scars, but now the attitude was a change as well. This Papyrus actually…actually seemed to care about him, without truly even knowing him. But why? Why would this Papyrus care for him; and who was this Papyrus? Where did he come from? And most importantly, could Mettaton go with him? Escape his shitty life and go somewhere he’d be appreciated?

“…Papyrus? I-I’ll explain why my SOUL is cracked,” he began. “If we can go somewhere…private to talk.” He all but purred that last statement, like he usually did when he was talking with his Papyrus, but this time, the affect took. Papyrus stuttered and blushed a little.

“P-PERFECT!” Papyrus grinned. “LET US GO THEN!”

From near a broken machine, a pair of red eyes watched the scene with a nasty glare.

“So…one of the AUs crossed over...I should go tell but…I wanna see where this goes.”

~Jack and Mark~

“You don’t trust me.”

Jack turned to Mark and cocked a brow. “Huh? What’re you talking about?”

“I can still hear your thoughts Jack,” Mark reminded. “You doubt my liberation plan.”

“Our,” Jack corrected. “Our liberation plan. And I didn’t really doubt you it’s just…”

Mark waited for him to gather his thoughts.

“I don’t think it’s right to liberate someone who isn’t able to decide whether they _want_ to be liberated,” Jack explained. “I guess Monster Kid, since he was so nice to me and all, just impacted me.” He laughed a little. “It won’t happen again Mark. I promise.”

Mark sighed and opened his arms. “Baby Boy, come here.”

Jack happily ran into Mark’s arms, taking comfort in the strong grip around him.

“Listen Jack. I explained my reasons before, but I didn’t explain them in full. When I expressed my desire to liberate the whole Underground, I meant the entire Underground. I didn’t give anyone like Monster Kid a choice because if he grew up lonely, he’d blame the hero of the Underground, wouldn’t he? It was hard Baby Boy, I know, but it had to be done,” Mark explained. “Do you understand it now?”

Jack nodded. “Sorry. I guess I didn’t understand anything at all.” He spotted the axe he dropped and picked it up, twirling it in his hands again. “I think I know where everyone is. Alphys told me once before that if anything bad were to happens, mainly if a human went renegade and tried to start another war, that they’d evacuate to the Lab down in Hotland. Alphys is probably setting up defenses against us.”

Mark smirked. “I’ve got this Baby Boy. Don’t worry. They won’t escape from us that easily. And with you by my side, nothing will ever stop us.”

Jack smiled and pulled Mark into a kiss. “Nothing will stop us,” Jack agreed.

~Lab~

“Alphys, do something!” Sans shouted. “My brother just charged head first into that portal! Get him out of there!”

“I-I can try,” Alphys stuttered. “But the portal isn’t as stable as I thought. After Papyrus went through, it de-stabilized even more. M-Maybe if someone on the other side could help me re-calibrate the machine, but Papyrus would have to go through and make contact with whoever is on the other side, and then they’d have to contact us and try to-“

“We understand Alphys,” Grillby said calmly. “Please, take a breath. You’re stressing yourself out. Papyrus is a gentle soul, maybe a little too gentle, but he’d win over anyone over on that side. We have to trust in him being able to get help.”

“B-But he’s-“

“Sans,” Grillby said sternly, in that same tone he used when he used to scold Sans as a child. “Papyrus can handle himself. Yes, he’s your younger brother, but he can take care of himself. We’ve raised him a lot better than he appears. He doesn’t look it, but Papyrus is stronger than we give him credit for. We must trust in him.”

Sans sighed. “Grill…I hope you’re right.”

~Fell~

“And where have you been?”

At the chilling voice, he froze, slowly looking over his shoulder. “Boss…I just went to Alphys’ Lab. Had to check on Mettaton since you obviously won’t.”

Edge glared down at his younger brother (Edge shall be what I call Fell!Papyrus. Undertale Papyrus is will named as if, and Swap!Papyrus shall be known as Paps. Red with be Fell!Sans, Blue will be Swap!Sans, and Undertale Sans is just Sans. For any other characters, I’ll either think up names or just make slight alterations) with disdain. “You’re hiding something from me Red.”

Red shrugged. “Well, if you got a call from the only relative you had left and they told you that they wanted you dead ever since you left them, you’d be shaken up too. It was thanks to Trajan that Mettaton didn’t kill himself.”

Edge rolled his eyes. “Mettaton is a pathetic showboat. His show is complete garbage, and he acts like a fucking cheap whore.”

“A whore you had a kid with,” Red muttered. “Aren’t you the least bit concerned about him?”

“He has things to come home to, of course I didn’t take him seriously when he threatened to kill himself,” Edge snapped. “And besides, he _does_ have a fanbase in the Underground who’d be oh so torn up if anything happened. That robotic fuck will come crawling back here.”

“And then you two’ll fuck and Traj and I’ll have to listen to it all night, and then in a week or two, you two are gonna be back at it again. It never fails.” Red folded his arms. “You could at least treat him a little better than a common fuck.”

“He _is_ a common fuck,” Edge pointed out. “Just because we had that brat doesn’t mean anything.”

“You know, you don’t have to be such an insensitive asshole all the time!” Red snapped. “You treat everyone who cares about you like crap! And for what?! Having feelings?! Honestly, Papyrus, you piss me the fuck off! Why do I even bother with you?! I don’t even fucking care that we’re brothers; you treat me like an annoyance than anything, yet I still come home, clean the house, watch your kid, and stop your boyfriend from killing himself! And what do I get in return?! Some fucking skeleton who I’m forced to live with who abuses me! Instead of fucking Mettaton, go fuck yourself! Or, instead of Mettaton killing himself, why don’t you just go die in a hole somewhere! Save Undyne the trouble of hunting you done and killing you!”

With that, Red grabbed a mustard bottle and stormed out of the house.

Edge stared after his younger brother and sighed. That could’ve gone so much better. But Edge always overreacted. Took things too far. Got too emotional. And then he stormed out, got raging drunk, and got dragged back by Grillby. His life was really repetitive, wasn’t it?

“Trouble in paradise I see.”

Edge turned towards the voice, and his eyes widened.

~Hotland~

Jack wiped his brow, already feeling exhausted even though they’d only been in Hotland for an hour. The heat was getting to him, and trying to dodge the countless defense measures was taking a toll on him. Mark wasn’t holding up any better, but he was better at hiding it than Jack was. Also, the few monsters they did encounter were much more aggressive towards them, and made battle harder. Jack hadn’t eaten since his Grillby fight and was now feeling all the exhaustion from the previous hours taking its toll.

“Are you okay Baby Boy? Need me to carry you?”

Jack shook his head. “N-No. You couldn’t possibly carry me, both our weapons, and still fight. That’s asking too much from you.”

“But I can’t have you collapsing on me.”

“And I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Mark turned and shook his head. “Baby Boy, I worry about you, more than I worry about myself. If you need to stop and rest, I won’t stop you.”

Jack opened his mouth to reply, but something sticky found its way into his mouth, garbling his speech. He tried to remove it, but then felt his hands stick together. Mark was struggling, trying to move, and Jack happened to notice them. Thousands of tiny spiders crawling up their bodies, wrapping them in webs. One of them, the Pet probably, shot webs into his mouth, and was now proceeding to wrap them up so Muffet could deal with them.

“I didn’t want to listen to that nerdy lizard who came through, but I knew I had to after listening to what you’ve done. I can’t afford to have you killing anymore of my precious spiders. What a waste of ingredients. Oh well! Looks like the rotten ingredients need to be trashed!”

**END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there we go. But who could be talking to Edge? Did Red really mean what he said? Will Papyrus make it back with Mettaton in one piece? And will Muffet be okay? What about Grillby?


	5. You're Just A Monster, Just Like Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edge has an encounter in his home, just not one he wanted. Mettaton has plans to run to the alternate dimension, and Muffet's out to confront Jack and Mark. But, what could the mystery person have to say to Edge? What could Mettaton want in the Undertale universe? And where did Red run off to? And what about Mark and Jack? Will they survive their encounter with Muffet?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Muffet's fight fucked me over when I was playing Undertale. Seriously, that shit was so difficult because I did not know how to dodge her pet or the spiders or pastries because I would panic and I couldn't hit the keys right. Of course the Sans Boss Fight was harder but...y'know...Muffet was really fucking hard, okay?  
> Also, there was actually no Grillby fight. Apparently, that's just a fanmade battle for the game that I came across and didn't even realize wasn't a true thing. I thought it was real because it looked exactly like an Undertale fight, but I was wrong. So sorry. I did try to find gameplay of it, but it was all just fan made stuff, which disappointed me. I think a fight with Grillby would be awesome.  
> Also, if you haven't guessed, a lot of the chapter titles are lyrics from Undertale inspired songs, most of which are by NateWantsToBattle because I fucking love him.
> 
> CREDIT TO: M4dh4ttey266 for Trajan
> 
> Would anyone be interested in some of the lore I created behind this story? Because if so, I'll post some of it on my Tumblr or just like, write a separate book about it.. I have an interesting take behind corrupted humans and entities like Mark and how inconsistencies in the timeline work and why Gaster can still communicate with Grillby and stuff like that. If you're interested, please let me know.

Mark growled, trying to wriggle his body around in his prison in order to free his hands. The axes were too far away, having been dropped when Mark was taken by surprise and trapped. He was trying to at least get his hands free, so he'd be able to grab the weapon and attack. But the webs were strong, Muffet's pet was waiting behind her, and Jack was trapped as well, unable to speak. Mark was weighing his options, but they were few. Most of his options ended with one of them getting severely hurt, and Mark didn't want to risk that. Maybe if they could plead with Muffet...

Muffet giggled, pouring herself a cup of tea and taking a tiny sip. "I was told I might die here, but from what I can tell, you two will be nice food for my pet. Who wants to be first?" Her eyes focused on Mark, smile fading off of her face. She seemed to think for a moment before glaring at Mark. "I listened to that one skeleton about how dangerous you in particular were. You die first."

Mark growled as the spiders began moving him towards the pet, trying to push him towards his death. Mark struggled, trying in vain to break free. This couldn't be how it ended. Jack could LOAD, but Mark didn't want him to have to. He didn't any harm to come to Jack that would force him to LOAD. didn't want that on his consious that he had caused Jack to die. _That_ would be bad, and if Jack died, that'd be worse their worst possible outcome. Mark promised Jack they'd get through this together, without any harm befalling Jack. He couldn't let Jack die here. Then he'd be breaking his promise.

Jack managed to spit out the gob of webs out of his mouth. "MARK!" He screamed, trying to get the webs off his hands. "Let go of him! I'm the one Sans was talking about! I've killed countless spiders." Jack remembered how much Muffet cared about her spiders, and hated hearing that someone mistreated them. Maybe if he lied enough, he could go first, and maybe figure out a way to get them out of this. "I hate spiders! They're disgusting trash down here and on the Surface! I've stolen all the spider candy! I stole from that stupid spider bake sale and killed the spider there." He glared. "And yes. I rip the legs off of spiders. One. By. One."

It had the effect that he wanted. Muffet glared harshly at him, all of her eyes narrowed at him. "So. You're the one. You're a spider-hater are you?" Her spiders stopped pushing Mark towards the pet, letting the male drop to the floor and  instead grabbing Jack. Jack flinched, the spiders being none-too-gentle as they pushed him along.

"What're you doing Baby Boy?" Mark hissed as Jack was pushed towards the Pet.

"Mark, don't worry. It'll be alright."

"Not if you die!" Mark shouted. "Jack please, let me go first!" Mark could take more hits than Jack could. Of course, no one knew that, but Mark would be a lot harder to kill than Jack was.

Jack smiled sadly. "It's alright Mark." But Jack knew it wasn't okay. It wouldn't be okay. When did he last SAVE? Every time he died, a little of him would be erased. Would the same be said for his relationship with Mark? What if Mark slowly forgot about him, with every death. Even though they were fused, they could still forget one another. It scared Jack, and if his idea failed, they were both doomed anyways.

Muffet grinned as Jack got closer and closer to her Pet. "Any last words? Not that it would matter."

Jack looked down the maw of the Pet. "Yeah. Always make sure your food doesn't have anything unwanted in it." He ripped his right arm from his cocoon and raised the knife that he had concealed, slamming it down into one of the Pet's eyes. It reacted violently, rearing back and roaring its displeasure. Transparent purple liquid splurted out of the eye and into Jack's face, but he ignored it as he was dropped to the ground. The Pet bucked and swung wildly around, unable to see, yet in too much pain to comprehend what was going on. Muffet panicked, trying to calm her pet but failing as pain was predominant over anything else and he couldn't comprehend anything past it.

Jack began sawing through his webs as fast as he could, the only thing on his mind was Mark. His bindings were tough, but he didn't stop until he was able to break free and sprint towards Mark, who was struggling to get out. The other little spiders ran towards the Pet, probably trying to offer comfort it, but Jack couldn't care at the moment. Mark was much more important right now. "Are you okay?" He asked worriedly, cupping Mark's face. "They didn't hurt you, did they?" 

Mark sighed in relief. "I'm better now. Where did you even get that knife from?"

"Grillby had spares," Jack quickly explained as he began cutting Mark free. "He must've been one of the monsters who fought in the war because there were knives taped to the bottom of the tables at the bar. But they were so small that they wouldn't have been useful for liberating so..." Mark broke free of his webs and swiped the axe up, getting into a clumsy battle stance. Jack grabbed the other axe and pocketed the knife, getting ready for a hard battle. His first encounter with Muffet was tough enough as it is, and he almost died. Now that Muffet was dead-set on killing them, it would be even harder.

"Mark," Jack murmured lowly. "Go for the Pet first. We need to get rid of it first."

Mark nodded. "Follow my lead."

With a battle cry, Mark ran at Muffet, changing directions at the last moment and charging at the Pet, who was still howling in agony. He swung his arm back and let it fly, throwing the axe with surprising strength. Since it was still in pain, the Pet couldn't see the axe coming, but definitely felt it when it slice through three of his legs. He collapsed onto his side, wriggling in pain. Muffet cried out, going over to her pet, but Jack got in her way and swung his axe downwards. Muffet yelped and jumped backwards, having to dodge to the side as Jack tried to slice at her from the other side. She jumped, leaping into the air to avoid the two trying to slash at her again.  _'These two mean business,'_ Muffet thought. 

~Papyrus~

Mettaton observed the area shyly, still reeling over the fact that he almost ended his life. The Papyrus he was talking to was oblivious to his plight, gushing on and on about how much he loved Mettaton's show and how much he looked forward to it. Honestly, where he was, this universe was much better than his own. This Papyrus made him feel like he actually belonged. Like someone actually liked him.

_'But no one loves my show,'_ he thought sadly.  _'No one likes me. No one even wants me alive.'_

He'd almost done it. Almost ended his own life. Because no one valued his life. Alphys built him to torture him, Napstablook hated his very existence, his Papyrus only used him as a sex toy, Asgore mocked him...people only watched his show to hate on it. Only phoned in to tell him how worthless he was and how much Mettaton was hated. He almost killed himself...and no one would've cared.

"Mettaton? You still never explained why you look different. Twice as good of course, but different!" Papyrus said brightly. "Say, did Alphys do something different to your body?"

Mettaton clenched his fists. "Papyrus. Don't you dare mention Alphys near me ever again. I never want to hear that bitch's name  _ever_ again!"

Papyrus jumped. "But...you and Alphys are good friends."

" _Friends?!_ That psychopath created me like this, just to be her own damn puppet! Why?! Because everyone is a sick freak who only cares about themselves! Alphys forced me into this body! I never asked her to make me like this! She just loves fucking around like I don't have emotions, or feelings, or..." he collapsed onto the floor, unable to contain his sobs anymore. Why, why did he have to bring her up? Why was he even alive? Wasn't it enough that he was suffering?

He hadn't realized he'd been pulled into an embrace until Papyrus made quiet shushing noises and began stroking his hair. Mettaton sniffed, hugging back with all four arms.  _'No one has ever held me like this. It's...nice.'_ This Papyrus was warm, genuine, and most of all, he actually cared. He made Mettaton feel like he actually mattered, that nothing would ever harm him again. Finally made him feel like his purpose wasn't just for pleasure or entertainment. Of course, Mettaton didn't know what his purpose was yet, but Papyrus made him feel like he had the time to find it. The sheer sincerity made Mettaton cry, but not from sadness or anger like he was prone to do, but from happiness. He actually felt a little happy.

"It'll be alright Mettaton. I don't exactly know what you're talking about...but it'll be okay."

Mettaton wasn't sure he could believe that, but he would definitely try to.

~Edge~

Edge growled at his son, folding his arms. "What do you want Trajan? I thought I told you not to come home unless you got your act together!"

 

He shrugged, folding his arms as well. "I knew you didn't mean it. Asshole you might be, but you're also my dad. And you don't want me out of the house. Mamatton isn't here for you to work your frustrations off, so I figured coming back was better than nothing." He smirked like the little shit he was. "Besides, you know you love me."

Edge growled, shoving Trajan out the way. "Shut up kid. It's none of your business what your...other parent and I do, nor should you spy on conversations that don't involve you. I was serious when I told you to get out."

"Considering I was mentioned in said conversation, I think I am involved." He glared at his father. "You know better than I do what the hell happened, and you're gonna tell me. So what's all this shit about Mamatton trying to kill himself? What the fuck did you do?"

Edge sighed. He had nothing against his son. In fact, he loved Trajan, more than he loved anyone else. Even more than he loved his brother. But Trajan was trying to be a peacemaker, and wanted to be different. Edge had tried to explain that being different would get him killed, and Edge didn't want that to happen. But his methods of teaching Trajan left his son hating his very guts; the only people Trajan really cared about were his Punkle Red (Edge despised that name so much) and his Mamatton. When Trajan was a baby, Edge was his world. Now however, they would butt heads rather than see eye-socket to eyes.  "Look Trajan...you already know that sometimes, I can be unbearable."

"Yeah. You can be. I've been kicked out more times than I can count for stupid shit that you blew out of proportion. I'm just trying to understand why Mom's life was in danger. Every time he goes through sometimes, it always starts with you."

"Well..." Edge wasn't really sure why. He liked arguing with Mettaton, sure, but why was did he feel so..empty? He should feel something, but nothing was there. He did have a SOUL, he could feel emotion, and this whole 'killing himself' thing hit a chord, but he couldn't feel _anything._ What was happening to him? "Your mom isn't as strong willed as we are. He tends to blow things far out of proportions and make them bigger than needed. This whole suicide stunt was just drama. For views on his show. He didn't meant any of it."

"I'm pretty fucking sure he did," Trajan shot back. "Did you see his tears? How close he was to pressing the button to kill himself? If me didn't have me, he probably would've ended up dead, and you don't care! You don't care about anyone but yourself! You see your own  _brother_ as a nuisance!"

"I don't care about you? I didn't have to waste my fucking life caring for you! I didn't have to feed you, give you clothes, or a place to live! I could've had your ass killed! I could've left you to drown in a river somewhere!" Edge yelled. "But I left you alive because Mettaton wanted you! And I've spent my time making sure you were safe, comfortable, and healthy! How is that not care?!"

"It's theorized that people, especially cruel people, only take care of the things they see as nuisances because of their own selfish purposes," Trajan muttered. "Cruel people only take on projects or have kids so that they don't have to see their work fail. That remains the only reason they stick to something for so long. And that explains you to a capital fucking T."

Edge's eyes blazed. "Get out."

"Gladly."

Trajan didn't even bother to walk out, simply teleporting away. Edge would've preferred if Trajan had slammed the door. Teleporting immediately made the room feel colder, smaller, and filled him with regret, His SOUL could handle doors slammed in his face, but not someone wanting to get away from him as fast as possible. Especially his own son.

Edge sighed. That wasn't what he wanted to happen. Though he may have seemed harsh due to the way he spoke to his family, he was just protecting them. He did care about them, too much to let anything bad happen. Why couldn't anyone understand that he was trying to help?

~Grillby's~

"Another argument with your brother?" Grillby guessed as Red plopped down in a chair and snatched his daily bottle of whiskey. Grillby had prepared it about an hour ago because he knew Sans always came in for a bottle of whiskey around this time. It never failed, so Grillby took liberties and went ahead to prepare a cool bottle of liquor. And also made sure it was some of the strongest; Red had an alcohol tolerance unlike any that Grillby had seen.

Red took a long drink before answering. "close, but no mustard. but even if i did, that just proves that you do care!"

"No. I care about you paying your fucking tab!" He snapped. "I just put up with your shit because I don't like any of the other fuckers in the bar. You provide...decent company."

"aw, I'm your favorite. and as for the tab," Red shrugged. "you know it'll never happen. Papyrus will be the savior our world needs before I pay up." He took another drink, not even feeling the buzz of the alcohol yet. "besides, not like you need it. everyone loves your hardcore whiskey; it sells like crazy."

Grillby growled at him, even though he knew it was true. He never really meant anything by it; it was just their brand of playful teasing. "Whatever." He turned to some of his other customers. "Make sure your ass isn't stupid drunk when I try to close again, or I will leave you here to rot."

Red flicked him off, draining the bottle and reaching for another. As he drank this one, this thoughts turned to the odd dream he had the other day. He'd been out in Snowdin and was trying to cooperate with a human of all things. He was trying to urge the kid to hide before Papyrus came, which was stupid because any other time they encountered a human, Red immediately brought them to Papyrus, or Asgore if the need was great. But whoever he was in his dream, he was trying to hide a human. This wasn't the first time he'd had weird dreams like that.

He had a dream that he was a lusty creature who fucked everyone he came across, not caring for gender or if they were in a relationship. In fact, the whole Ungerground was like that, but Edge (or whoever he was. His name was different in every scenario too) in particular seemed like the biggest and most desired slut. In another dream, he was like a virus, glitching in and out of the world, causing trouble for any unfortunate soul. A ruthless killer who ha staggered emotion for his own brother. In a different one, he was the king of the Underground, ruling with a lazy, but firm fist. There was no hunt for human souls since he believed in breaking the barrier in a different way.

Edge was always someone else, and always encountered a human. And it was always the _same_ human. No matter what, he was always trying to help them. But why would he be doing that? Why would he be helping a human? Edge hated humans...didn't he?

~Papyrus~

Papyrus stroked this Mettaton's hair, feeling how coarse the strands were compared to how he thought they would feel. But he wouldn't say anything. Not until Mettaton stopped crying. It was weird that he was so...subdued. And so mad at Alphys. For all he knew, Mettaton was actually grateful to Alphys for his body, despite how he may have acted. Papyrus could read people very well, even if he hadn't officially met them yet, and this Mettaton was so different that he was having trouble getting his thoughts together. What exactly did he say to calm him down?

"Would...would you like to talk about it?" He asked quietly. "I find that sometimes talking things out makes them better. I talk about a lot with Sans and I always feel better."

Mettaton wiped his eyes. This wasn't how he wanted it to go, even though his hugs were so comforting. "Well...I was never an easy person to talk to. I never really wanted to be in the spotlight; I liked being alone with Blooky- I mean, Napstablook. But Alphys found me and told me she wanted to make something out of me. I-I told her no, but she wouldn't take that for an answer. She kidnapped me and showed me this body she made. She wanted me to try it. But again...I told her no." He shuddered, remembering how Alphys had managed to shove him into that cold, metal prison he now called his body. He remembered all the pain he went through, all the experiments... "When I woke up, I was in this body. She forced me to go through countless experiments and tests until I was ready. And now...I was stuck in the lab for a long time. So long that Blooky thought I abandoned him; he didn't know I was kidnapped and being held captive. She'd show me off to people and I managed to find Red and Edge, but even they...I don't really want to go into it. I was just tortured and abused by everyone I came across and I'd finally had enough. I didn't want to take it anymore and probably would've killed myself, but no one was watching me, so I escaped and you found me. That's...all I really want to talk about right now." He put his arms around Papyrus again. "Just...hold me for a little while longer."

Papyrus could do nothing more than hug back, wanting to know more, but respectfully holding his questions. Maybe when Mettaton was feeling better.

Still, this whole scenario was weird. Even though Papyrus still found him gorgeous, there was just something off with this Mettaton. The subdued nature, the dejected aura, the pain in his voice...this wasn't his Mettaton. This wasn't the star Papyrus loved watching on TV in the evenings. No, although this was Mettaton, it wasn't the one Papyrus was used to. How he'd even found this oddity, Papyrus didn't know, but he did know it had something to do with the portal in Alphys's lab. That's where all the answers would be.

~Mark and Jack~

As Mark began to attack Muffet from the left side, Jack was already moving before Muffet registered that he had moved. Jack saw the black shapes moving along the ground and didn't hesitate to stomp on them as he strode towards Muffet. He knew from his last run that Muffet's left was her strongest point, but her right was often left; he could easily take her by surprise if he used the right side. 

Hopefully, Mark would keep her distracted long enough for him to even get a hit on the right side.

Muffet was fighting with Mark, using her spiders to try and slow him down, and maybe even poison him. But to her surprise, Mark was stronger than he thought. Those the swings of his axe were slighly clumsy, they were still strong. Each time she tried to block one of his hits, she'd stumble. You'd think having more legs then him would give her the advantage, but it did the opposite. She tried to circle him, but unfortunately, that left her back open.

Jack didn't hesitate to attack.

Muffet quickly looked around, and when she didn't see the other Human, she internally panicked. _'Where did he go?'_   Jack noticed her confusion and lunged towards her, his feet blurred on the ground and determination pumping through his veins. With the blade of his axe drawn back, he swung high. Seeing Jack's move, Mark swung in low. Two of Muffet's eyes scanned the area, then locked onto Mark. She flicked her teapot up, the handle somehow catching Mark’s first strike since his was faster than Jack's, even though Jack struck first. She knocked it away, then flipped her cup with her other hand and caught Jack's blade.

_'That's some really strong kitchenware,'_ Jack thought, seeing that Muffet's equipment hadn't even broken under the strain of their weapons. And though she started to look tired, Muffet wasn't very worse for wear. The tiny spiders all over were also annoying him; he could feel all of their tiny legs crawling over his arms and neck, and he almost lost his focus on Muffet to bat them away.

Muffet laughed and spun, four of her arms smacking them in the face. She gave another little giggle and turned towards Mark, splashing him in the face with her tea. Mark screamed, the hot tea burning his eyes. "Aw, can the human not handle my special tea? I guess humans can't consume spider venom."

Mark collapsed, the axe dropping from his grip. Jack could see his tan skin begin to redden, and the little spiders took advantage of his defense dropping and began wrapping him once more. The Pet's gaping maw was still open even though he was still trembling in pain. Through all the jerking and convulsions, getting close to his maw would be detrimental.

Jack was so focused on Mark that he didn't see Muffet disappear from his sight. But he did feel a stinging bite to his shoulder. The second bite came to his neck, a stinging sensation spreading through his body. His veins felt like they were on fire and he fell to one knee, using the axe to help himself upright. Muffet's wicked giggle reached his ears, but it sounded slower. In fact, the world seemed to be slowing down to him. He saw Mark blindly trying to swipe at spiders, but his aim was off and he looked sluggishly. He saw Muffet laughing, but it sounded muffled and distorted. The spider legs felt more like tiny needles brushing up and down his whole body.

This was wrong.

Jack weakly swung his axe around, catching Muffet off guard. The swing didn't have a lot of power behind it, as Muffet grunted when it impacted against her side. But it stuck in her skin and she stumbled, the new added weight of the axe throwing her off balance. Jack grinned a little, but his head swam again and he lost his grip on the axe, hitting the ground. He twitched, seeing Mark struggling a little, but he couldn't escape the little spiders that brought him right before the Pet.

"That's it. Feed my Pet," Muffet coughed, hand tugging at the axe. "Kill them!"

_'I have to...heal,'_ Jack thought, hand twitching towards his pocket. He had to have something there that could help. Something he could eat. Something...he had to have something. But he'd eaten his pie already, the snowman pieces had melted due to his fight with Grillby, and he didn't pick up anything on the way here. Not that anyone would've sold him anything...

Muffet grunted and pulled the axe out of her side. Blood dripped from the wound, but not much that warranted her to tend to it. The others were wrong to assume that no one would be able to stop the Humans. Who did they take her for? Just a pastry chef? Because, as she discovered today, she was much more than-

"Aahugh! No..."

Her body dropped to the ground, her dress beginning to stain. The Pet was long dead, it's head chopped off and rolled off somewhere. Mark was dropped to the ground, the spiders fleeing, but Mark didn't move. He was still breathing, but unconscious and wounded badly. Jack's vision was blurry, but he had seen it when a blade shoved itself through Muffet's chest. But...Mark wasn't conscious and no one in the Underground would've hurt her. But then, if neither one of them did it, then who did it? Who killed Muffet and the Pet while they were down?

Something warm settled in his mouth, sweet and rich. Jack couldn't chew, simply letting whatever it was melt in his mouth. As soon as it touched his tongue, his head stopped swimming, so it could only be a good thing, right? It seemed like it was safe, so he didn't spit it out immediately and let the flavor settle in his mouth. After a few minutes, something cool was slowly poured into his mouth. Water, he guessed, but from where? And who was giving it to him? He tried to look at the man's face, but his vision was still a little blurry. All he could make out were brown eyes...

"I see," a voice spoke. "They are the same as us."

There was a dark chuckle from over where Mark was. "Ah. They're the destroyers of this world. To think that they almost failed...they're lucky we were here to save them."

"We should go. Before they ask questions they shouldn't."

Almost immediately, the two presences disappeared. Jack opened his mouth to call for them, but they were already gone and their presence was nonexistent, like they'd never been here in the first place.

Mark recovered first, standing shakily and rubbing his eyes. "I didn't think the tea had any kind of poison in it," he muttered, blinking a few times. His eyes settled on Jack and he ran over to him, cradling his body in his arms. "I'm so sorry Baby Boy," Mark whispered. "I thought we could...I thought we had her. I had no idea she was so strong. We underestimated her and I almost got you killed."

Jack smiled, reaching up a hand to stroke Mark's face. "It's alright Mark. We're okay now."

"But how?" Mark questioned. "Did you...save us?"

Jack shook his head, then regretted it as his head was still throbbing. "No. I was dying. I have no idea who helped us."

Mark cautiously looked around. There was no one in the area. No monsters, no other humans, no nothing. But then who?

_"He's going to be the death of you."_

Jack heard the wicked words, Flowey's annoying voice bouncing around in his mind. Where had that come from? Mark was just protecting him.

_"He will only hurt you, with you regard for your wellbeing."_

Yet here Mark was, caring for him, about the fact that he almost died. How could Flowey possibly think Mark wouldn't care?

"Because Asriel became bitter after he died," Mark said, and Jack jumped, forgetting that Mark could hear his thought when Jack left their link open. "He doesn't know love. Not our kind of love. And I love you too much to see you hurt."

Jack sat up, leaning forward to give Mark a quick kiss. "I know. Now, let's go find someone to steal stuff from. I have a feeling we'll need it."

Mark smiled, lifting Jack up. "Of course Baby Boy."

~Lab~

Alphys was fiddling around with more controls, but nothing seemed to be working. The hazy image that was created from her portal didn't become any clearer. The wavering image didn't stabilize, and there was a red screen that wouldn't stop flashing. Sans fumbled with his ketchup nervously. Papyrus was taking too long over there. What if he had gotten killed? "Alphys-"

"I'm trying Sans!" Alphys yelled back. "I don't k-k-k-know what calibrations to use to f-f-f-fix it! I never had to deal with this kind of s-s-s-situation before!"

Grillby peered into the portal again. There wasn't much they could do at this rate. He had no way to get in contact with whoever was on the other side to help. Alphys did say that someone on the other side who have to help her calibrate the machine. But maybe...maybe Gaster could help from the Void. It as a strange place, buy maybe it would hold some secret to helping, some secret to making things right. A way to strike the human while they were waiting.

But...what exactly could Gaster do out in the Void? How did they know a secret lied there? For all they knew, the Void was simply a space between the realities. What really was out there? Voids usually meant nothingness, and if Gaster was stuck in nothingness, then he wouldn't be able to make contact with anyone or anything.

It was a stupid idea to begin with.

Alphys tried to mess around with a few more controls, but nothing worked. She grabbed her head in frustration, trying to think of something that would work, but she couldn't think of anything. Why? Why couldn't she do anything right? "It's all my fault," she whispered. "It's all my fault."

Sans looked over at her. "what did you say?" Did she figure it out?

Alphys collapsed against the control panel, a broken sob leaving her throat. All the guilt, all the pain, all the fear, all the sadness, and all the regret was building up and it drained her. She couldn't keep herself up anymore. "I'M SO USELESS!" She put her hands over her eyes, not wanting anyone to see her like this. "Undyne is dead, Papyrus is gone, that Human is killing everyone, and there's nothing I can do to stop him! I let Gaster down, I let Asgore down, and I let Undyne down! I can't do anything right!"

Sans had no clue what to do. Alphys was screaming and crying, some phrases unintelligible while others were broken pieces. He wanted to comfort her, but she was crying for Undyne, and Sans didn't think that bringing up that Undyne was dead would help anyone. He couldn't help her. He could only watch Alphys have a breakdown.

Grillby saw Alphys's meltdown and went over to her, wrapping his arms around her. Alphys clung to him, perhaps because he was the only thing that helped keep her grounded. He began humming softly, a song he often sung when he was cooking or cleaning. It had a calming effect on him, and he often sang it to Gaster when the scientist was stressed. Maybe it would help Alphys see reason.

Alphys's broken sobs died down to broken whimpers, and after a few minutes of whimpering, she fell into a deep, though fitful, slumber. Grillby sighed. "She broke. It was too much for her. She hit her breaking point, but can you really blame her?" He neglected to mention to Sans that there was a large area in Snowdin that remained permanently scorched after Grillby hit his breaking point. After he lost Gaster, he couldn't handle it. Nightmares about the war came back to him and he didn't have anyone to help him chase them away. Then he learned that virtually no one remembered Gaster, and he broke. No one knew about his limit to this day, and Grillby was going to keep it that way.

"She's broken, and I don't think anyone can fix her."

~Fell Lab~

"Where are you?! Where are you you worthless piece of trash?!"

Mettaton stilled in Papyrus's arms. "No," he whispered. "No, she can't be back yet."

Papyrus was confused. "Who?"

"ANSWER ME YOU WORTHLESS INGRATE!"

"Is that...Alphys?" Papyrus was confused. He'd never heard her sound so angry before. Or so rough. It was like she was a different person.

"We need to leave," Mettaton whispered hurridely. "We need to go! How did you get here?!"

"WERE YOU MESSING WITH MY MACHINES YOU STUPID FUCK?!"

Mettaton flinched. No, this couldn't be happening.

~Lab~

"WERE YOU MESSING WITH MY MACHINES YOU STUPID FUCK?!"

Sans and Grillby jumped, looking down at Alphys. Why was she so angry? And who was she talking to? But...closer observation showed she was still sleep, and hadn't uttered anything yet. Then who...?

Sans turned to the machine and peered in. There was a blocky yellow shape on the other side that was staring back at him!

"How..."

"Who are you? Wait, Sans? What were you doing in my lab?!"

Sans looked around. Wait, what? "what're you talking about? who are you?"

"Don't play captain dumb-as-fuck with me Sans!" The shape shifted a bit. "What the fuck are you wearing?"

Sans was starting to get suspicious. "look Alphys...or whatever kind of persona of Alphys you are: i am not your Sans. right now, you're talking to a Sans of a different reality. that may sound far-fetched, but it's the truth. the Alphys on our side managed to open a portal to another world: your world. and we need your help to get the passage stabilized."

"...So that old geezer Gaster was right..." the other Alphys muttered. "Say I do believe you, and everything you've told me thus far...why in the fuck should I help you?"

This was going to be the hard part. How did Sans explain that? For all he knew, she could either trick him or purposely fuck it up for them. "we...we're just following Gaster's notes and managed to make it work, but our Gaster...he abandoned his research because he couldn't find results. my Alphys and I tried to continue his work, but we only managed to come so far. we need another mind to help us, and you have to be the smartest one on your side if you answered me."

The other Alphys hummed. "Alright. Let's say I do help. What do I get out of it?"

This was also what Sans was afraid of. What the heck did he offer? He didn't have anything on him! At least, nothing of value. All he had was a bottle of ketchup and his sneakers... "...what do you want?"

"...I want notes."

Sans cocked his head. Notes? "what kind of notes?"

"If I buy into this alternate world crap, then there's another Gaster, right? Our Gaster offed himself and destroyed his notes in the ultimate display of being a douche. I want the notes from your Gaster; the information is bound to be different, right? Then I wanna see them."

Sans looked at the portal indecisively. That would be a violation of Gaster's property; that wasn't really something Sans wanted to give out. But if Papyrus was stuck over there...

Sans knew what to do. He had Gaster's notes, tucked safely away in a drawer in his room, but he also had his own research notes from working alongside Gaster, hidden safely with Gaster's notes. It wouldn't be too hard to trick that Alphys into thinking she was going to get Gaster's notes, especially since she didn't know what their Gaster wrote like. It was foolproof; all he had to do was play it cool. 

"sure thing," he said casually. "he's gone, so it shouldn't matter, right?"

"I like the way you think. Let's get started."

* * *

Mark didn't particularly like Temmie Village, so he didn't hide his joy at the fact that the Temmies weren't even there. Not even the shopkeeper was there, which was alright with Mark. The constant pleads for college money made him sick; in fact, everything about the village made him sick, but there was no reason to dwell on it now that it was empty. Maybe the Temmies left something valuable when they fled.

They had traveled around a little bit searching for a vendor that would sell to them, but there was no vendor around. They'd tried finding something from Waterfall, but there was nothing there, at least nothing edible, that could be used either. The only option they had would be to go all the way back to Snowdin and check the houses there. But Jack remembered that there was an old turtle that sold goods and that Temmie Village might be safe, so they headed that way. They hadn't expected it to be empty, but it did save them the trouble of a hoard of Temmies attacking them.

"Who do you think it was?" Jack asked as they pushed the Temmie Statue across the ground. "It was a guy, or two guys, and I think they were human."

"But there are no more humans in the Underground," Mark pointed out. "Unless Chara was a boy and somehow came back to life and stayed hidden somewhere, there wouldn't be another human down here."

Jack shook his head. "Chara had red eyes. The guy who saved me had brown eyes." He hummed in thought, giving the statue one last shove. "Maybe it was an illusion?"

"An illusion wouldn't stab Muffet through the chest, or cut off her Pet's head," Mark reminded. "Those were real people who really wanted Muffet dead. And I know that there's no human-looking monster down here. That had to be someone from the Surface."

"But it just doesn't make sense!" He couldn't wrap his head around that. "Unless..." he suddenly remembered something Mark told him.

_That_ _belonged to another human that fell here. One of the first actually. The First. Toriel doesn't speak about him. Because she doesn't know what happened. She found a human by himself and decided to care for him in secret; she didn’t tell Asgore or Asriel about this human because she was scared they would chase him off. He was the first human he ever loved. But then one day…he was gone. He didn't die but...one day, he just disappeared._

He knew that Mark already heard that particular thought and watched as he pondered it. He was hoping that the older had an explanation, but to his surprise, Mark didn't have an answer for him. "I...There's no way to be sure. He was just...gone. I don't know if he died or if he really just disappeared, so it is a possibility. A crazy one, but there's still a chance." He bit his lip. "But if he was...that would be scary. Just imagine what would happen if he left because he hated monsters and was slowly slaying them in the shadows. He could be a beast for all we know."

Jack shuddered at the thought. According to Mark, that first child should be around twice times Jack's age by now, maybe even older. He'd have had over twenty years to get stronger, maybe even strong enough to break the barrier on his own. Who knew? No one had seen him since he disappeared. There was no telling if he was dead, in hiding, or on the Surface. But if one human had been hiding out for that long, getting strong by secretly murdering monsters...there was no telling what kind of person he was now.

With no one to talk to, Mark and Jack left Temmie Village.

~Gerson's Shop~

Gerson seemed to be expecting them as Mark and Jack squeezed into his shop. He didn't flinch at the blood on their clothes either, just observed the two of them with a level eye. He had an air of tension around him, but you couldn't tell that from just looking at him. In fact, in the tiny space of the whole shop, it was hard to contain anyone's feelings: Mark had an air of anger around him, Jack had an air of curiosity, and Gerson was apprehensive. But Gerson easily kept his feelings under wraps and grinned at the two men.

"Wa ha ha...So you came here...What a treat!" The sarcasm wasn't lost on either of them. Mark growled at the old man, but held his tongue. They needed him to survive, so pissing off probably their  _only_ source of food was a really bad idea.

Jack calmly held out some gold. "We just need supplies." After having no way to heal, Jack was on edge. There was no telling who he'd encounter next and how strong their grudge against them was, so Jack would rather be safe than sorry.

Gerson eyed the coins carefully. "Don't expect a discount," was all he said.

"We weren't expecting one," Mark hissed. There wasn't much in terms of ware, but it would have to do. Crabapples and Sea Tea weren't the greatest items they could get, but there would hardly be any vendors around for them to buy from. It would have to do until they found the Nice Cream Guy and threatened him or found items left over from the evacuation. At least Sea Tea didn't taste bad. Crabapples on the other hand...gross.

Jack had bought four Crabapples when Gerson shook his head. "That's enough. I don't have to sell anything else to you."

"But I'm not done," Jack protested. Four Crabapples wouldn't do shit for them!

"Doesn't matter. Now leave my store."

Mark narrowed his eyes. "The boy said he wasn't done." He held up the axe threateningly. "Finish selling to him you old fart. Or else."

Gerson eyed the blade, then chuckled. "I've lived too long to be afraid of something like you. Try it, kiddos!" He grinned at the two of them. "...I know you can't here. Wah ha...Knowledge like that is the only reason I've survived so long."

"You won't survive much longer if you don't finish selling to him." Mark shifted the axe in his hands and got closer to the counter.

Gerson didn't seem to think that arguing with Mark would get him anywhere, so he allowed Jack to finish buying, if only to shut Mark up. Once Jack stockpiled what he could carry, he bought a few things for Mark, and though Gerson didn't seem particularly happy to be selling to Mark, he had to grin and bear it.

Finally, once they were done, Gerson snarled at them. "I've seen someone like him before." He gestured at Mark. "And all he's gonna do is ruin things for you." He stared at Jack. "You need to leave him. Or else he'll be the end of you."

Jack was tired of hearing this. Why did everyone tell him that? Why did they see some kind of monster in Mark? Couldn't they see the good he was doing?! "Why does everyone think they know Mark? They don't know a damn thing about him! Mark isn't going to hurt me! He's been protecting me this whole time! Assholes like you want to ruin that for me!" He held up his axe. "I'm tired of you! I tired of everyone who hates Mark! I'm tired of everyone judging him!" He drew back his axe and swung downwards.

Gerson watched in amusement as the axe, at first, only met a barrier. This was what he was trying to tell them. He was a vendor. You couldn't hurt vendors in the Underground. During the war with humans, vendors were an important asset. Therefore, a mass spell was used that would protect all vendors from anyone who were threatening to them. This was in place so that during the war, supplies were always available and there was always _someone_ out there selling without fear of being killed. At first, weapons and shields were sold along with food, but when the war ended and it seemed like no more violence would be used, those weapons seemed silly; vendors still sold them in case someone was feeling nostalgic. And while this spell was useful, no one had taken it down to this day just in case something happened. If a monster running a shop was in danger, he could only get robbed; there was no way for him to be hurt during the robbery. And no mere human would be able to break it.

But, Gerson underestimated Jack's determination. In his rage, Jack was more than capable of breaking a spell that protected vendors. Gerson could only watch, his amusement turning to terror, as Jack's axe cut through the shield like it was glass. He screamed, but only a small sound came out of his mouth as the blade came down, burying itself into his skull.

Mark watched in amazement. He'd never seen Jack so enraged like this. Sure, no one trusted Mark since the beginning, but Jack had always internalized his feelings about it. Maybe Gerson's words triggered something and he snapped. He poured all of that pent up anger into one swing and it broke the odd barrier that always protected a vendor. Although, now it seemed like it wasn't going to work anymore. He could only watch as Jack pushed and pushed until his axe had split through Gerson's jaw, but the turtle had already been dead. Blood, brain matter, and his working eye spilled out onto the counter, a pool of blood staining the blue crystals. When Jack pulled his axe back, parts of organs and blood clung onto the blade. And by the look on his face, he had loved it.

Jack panted heavily, his rage dissipated for now. Mark had been the only one to do most of the liberation, but now...now...something inside him snapped. It was like a gate had opened up and this huge flood of emotion just washed over him. And suddenly-

Jack felt amazing.

It was such a rush! Such a thrill! Seeing their life ebb away, watching the color drain from their eyes, their beautiful crimson blood leak onto the floor. Was this why Flowey liked it so much? Was this why the monsters were to afraid of it? Because of the ecstasy, of how good it made you feel? Jack didn't know, but he wanted it to continue. He couldn't believe that liberation could feel so good. Was this what truly gaining LV was like? Because he didn't want this feel to end.

Turning, he threw his arms around Mark and dropped his axe, laughing heartily. His lungs began to ache and his stomach began to pain him he was laughing so hard. But he couldn't contain it anymore. He insecurities were gone, and so were his morals. He had no reason to think their plan was flawed, no reason to think this was wrong. Liberating them was the best thing Jack and Mark could do. So he kissed Mark, hungry and lustful and needy. Their kiss was like never before, fueled by their mutual bloodlust. Blood began to pool underneath their feet, but neither minded. Mark pushed Jack to the floor, the two of them hungrily ripping off each other's clothes, and made love in the pool of blood beneath them.

And it had never felt greater.

~LAB~

"Now all I need you to do is one more calibration," Fellphys (all Fell characters without nicknames just have 'fell' somewhere in the name) commanded from her side. "And that should be all we need." Sans couldn't really tell, but he could've sworn he saw her roll her eyes behind her glasses and mutter something, but he couldn't hear what is was. The picture behind the portal was much clearer now thanks to all the work they had done. It hadn't taken long, simply because only a few calculations were off. It was nothing major and had Sans been able to read the calibrations on Alphys's notes, he would've been able to do it on his own. But concern for how Papyrus was doing cut off any rational thought, leaving him only with terrible scenarios of what could be happening to Papyrus. What if someone on Fellphys's side was torturing him? He wouldn't be able to stand it.

~Fell LAB~

Fellatton peered over a counter at the large swirling vortex. He didn't know exactly what it was, but he knew it was better than being here. The Papyrus he was with didn't need to be put through  _any_ of what Fellatton went through, and if that portal was how he got here, that portal would be how they both got out.

"Papyrus, listen to me," he whispered. "See that portal? That's how we leave here. I need you to trust me on this and get me as far away from here as you can. That portal is the key. Understand?"

Papyrus nodded shakily. "I-I understand. The Great Papyrus will safely escort you wherever we need to go." Honestly, he was just ready to leave. There were bats all over this lab and all the posters were of scary women and the whole air around this place was making him uncomfortable. He really wanted to leave and go home to Sans, maybe eat some spaghetti. At least one he got home, he could help from his friends.

Fellatton grabbed Papyrus's hand and waited for the moment that Fellphys let her guard down. That would be their only shot to escape and get to freedom. Fellaton couldn't be happier. Now, he could escape the pain, and torture, and all of the fear and just live. He wouldn't dare take his life again because he'd be free!

_'But...Trajan...I can't just leave him here...but he'll get taken care of better than I will.'_

He didn't want to leave his baby boy behind, but maybe it was for the best. Trajan was better taken care of here, and Fellatton wouldn't be gone for long. Just long enough to get better...

At one point, Fellphys walked away to get another tool, probably one of the machine, so Fellatton grabbed Papyrus and made a mad dash. He had superior speed, a function Fellphys gave him, so making it there wouldn't be a problem. However, fate chose that moment to be unfair. Because as they ran by, Fellatton was so concerned with getting away that he didn't notice a small box of gory anime DVDs in a box on a table. Fellatton accidentally knocked it over, sending the DVDs crashing to the ground. Some of them broke, some were accidentally stepped on by the running pair, and some were left in tact. However, the commotion itself alerted Fellphys that _something_ _was wrong._

"What the fuck was that?!"

Fellatton cursed under his breath, but was too determined to get out to look back. He yanked on Papyrus's arm and leaped through the portal.

Sans dropped the tool he was using as two bodies fell through the portal. Grillby flinched at the commotion, awkwardly protecting Alphys from harm. Sans got his magic ready for a fight just in case; he didn't know what kinds of monsters were on the other sides, but if they were anything like that weird Alphys, then they were in trouble. However, it all turned to shock as Papyrus sat up and smiled. "Sans! I've made a friend!"

Sans almost fainted.

Fellatton looked up, curling in on himself on instinct. Every time he met new people, he always expected them to hate him, judge him, beat him...it was an instinct reflex now that he probably wouldn't get rid of anytime soon. He was just glad that Trajan didn't develop it...

"Papyrus, where the hell have you been?! do you have any idea how worried Grillby and i have been?! and who the hell is this guy?!"

Papyrus was smiling despite all the yelling. "Oh! This is Mettaton, from...wherever the portal took us. He's not dangerous at all! He's my friend now!"

Fellaton whimpered as this Sans gave him a curious, yet menacing look. "oh yeah? and where exactly were you?"

Papyrus tried to reply, then shut his mouth when he couldn't. It was actually hard to explain since it was just dark and...angry. "Oh um...I don't actually know. It was really dark and scary wherever we were, and the Alphys there was yelling and screaming and cursing. I didn't like it there."

Grillby gave Fellatton a kind look. "I guess you're a bit disoriented at the moment. This is probably a lot to take in. Are you okay?"

Fellatton shook his head. "I...I'm far from okay." He held his arms, feeling colder in this would than he did back at home. Probably because he was alone here. No matter what this Papyrus said, he really didn't have anyone here to help him. He left his only son behind with no way to get to this place, to safety, and for what? It wasn't for anything. It was only because he was a coward.

He should've killed himself when he had the chance.

"Excuse me...but can you tell us why you're here?"

Fellatton looked at this Grillby. He could immediately sense that this Grillby was different, not just because of the soft voice or different color, but the whole disposition was gentler. This was someone Fellatton wanted to trust, but he couldn't find it in him to trust him due to his own insecurities. Maybe if he wasn't such a coward, he would be able to trust people easier. But after everything he's been through, he wouldn't be able to bear it if he trusted someone, only for them to turn their backs and betray him. The only reason he trusted the other Papyrus was because he was so gullible. Anyone else...he just wasn't sure his soul could take it.

"Your SOUL is cracked," someone pointed out quietly. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"...My SOUL has always been cracked," he admitted quietly. "I've never been strong, and this body is made up of old parts..." Just thinking about the fact that he was an experiment made up of failed projects made him even angrier. Alphys didn't even take the time to design an original body for him, just made him out of old parts she was throwing out regardless.

"Well, maybe our Alphys can help!" Papyrus said brightly. "She can fix you up, and make your body stronger and everything!"

Fellatton growled, the first hostile sound out of his mouth since he got here. "I will never let that bitch touch me! After everything she's done to me, you actually think I'll  _willingly_ let her get close to me?! Then you're all fucking wrong!"

"hey buddy, we were just trying to help you out," Sans said calmly. "no need to get hostile."

Fellatton glared at him, taking note of this different Sans. He looked almost exactly like Red, except...calmer. And lazier. In the back of his mind, he understood that this new-universe? Is that where he was?-was much different from his own world. He didn't belong here, but he didn't want to go back. These people weren't the people he grew to...tolerate, just looked close to them. These people were just taking _pity_ on him. And he didn't need pity.

"Help me out?! None of you can _'help me out'_! Can any of you help me with the years of irreparable damage done to me?! Can any of you help me get over the trauma of being forced to care for a child you didn't want, yet were forced to have?! I didn't think so!"

Alphys groaned quietly, all the yelling disturbing her sleep. She adjusted her glasses and sat up, scratching her head. "Guys? What's going on?"

Fellatton looked to the source of the noise and flinched when he spotted Alphys. His courage from before suddenly ran out, leaving him terrified. It didn't matter that this Alphs looked different, there was a chance she was the same as the Alphys who had tortured him and forced him into this body. The same Alphys who would beat him, electrocute him, force him to dodge lasers and knives...all he saw was a demon.

"GET HER AWAY!" He screamed, scooting back as far away as quickly as possible. Out of reflex, all of his weapons unsheathed, all pointing towards Alphys. He couldn't hear Papyrus trying to calm him down over the sounds of his own screams. All of the memories from before came flooding back and he couldn't contain all of his emotions. He wanted her gone! He wanted all of his torture to end!

Alphys screamed as well. Whatever she was looking at just didn't look right. It kind of reminded her of the Mettaton she created, but warped. This...creature, whoever it was, had started screaming at her for no reason, four eyes blazing in pure emotion. Alphys awkwardly leaped out of Grillby's arms and ran to a back corner of this room, hiding behind a flimsy shield she had created. She didn't know why that thing was yelling and screaming, but it was terrifying her and she didn't like it.

Sans sighed as he looked between the two screaming monsters and sighed. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Trajan sighed, tapping his lollipop against his arm. He'd kill to be home right now, but with tensions running high. His mom had been missing for a while now, and after the scare of him trying to kill himself, Trajan was worried that something more was going on that he didn't know why he was always left out of the loop. Maybe because they still saw him as a child...after all, Trajan matured a little too quickly as a child. His vocabulary and motor skills had increased too quickly due to his genetics, and once he learned _new_ vocabuary words, things seemed to change from there. Since he didn't see himself as a kid, he used his magic to give himself the appearance of seventeen years old so that his parents wouldn't keep hiding things from him because he was 'too young'. All it did was lead to his mama crying his eyes out and his papa (he used that word very loosely) scolding him and beating him until Trajan could at least make himself look thirteen years old. Trajan didn't care to be his rightful age; he already swore and rebelled like a teenager, so why not stay as one for a while?

Twirling his lollipop between his fingers, he turned to observe the castle in the distance. Sometimes he wondered why he was even alive. It was obvious his papa didn't want him because Trajan was too "soft", and there were times when Trajan could see regret in his Mamatton's eyes sometimes...it just made him wonder why they even had him in the first place.

He slowly let this breath out, wiping his eyes. He hadn't even realized the tears had come out until they dripped onto his arm. In fact, all four of his eyes were crying...that hadn't happened for a while now.

"Why is it so hard to be different?" He whispered to no one. "Why does everyone love to kill, and destroy, and torture, and hurt all the time. Maybe that's why the humans really attacked us in the war, because we were so terrifying. Because our main purpose was to hurt and kill." More tears began to leak from his eyes. "Why can't we befriend monsters, or show some mercy? Why is it always about being so mean?"

"Monsters were terrible creatures in the first place."

Trajan jumped at the voice and quickly wiped his eyes. No matter who it was, no one was allowed to show weakness. Trajan may not have liked it, but he knew better than to let anyone see his tears. He turned, seeing...a human?

"A-A human?!"

They nodded, a bit sadly. Whoever they were, they looked to the castle as well. "Monsters were always bad. I was there during the war. Monsters came in and just killed my wife and baby. For no reason. I wasn't even fighting in the war, just protecting my family. And they came in, ate their souls, made me watch, and then just left. There's nothing you can do to change it."

"I just..." Trajan just sighed. "I just wish that we could befriend humans and work together instead of just...killing all the time."

The human turned. "Maybe...we can be the start?"

Trajan smiled. The human, while naive, seemed nice enough. "Thank you. What's your name Human?"

"My name..." The Human smiled as well. "My name is..."

* * *

Mark looked over at Jack, who was bathing himself in the river near Temmie Village. Why did Jack like green so much? Red was obviously his color. Especially crimson. When the light hit him just right and that crimson color just seemed to blaze like fire, Jack looked amazing. Of course, he way it was mixed in with the green of his hair was sexy too. Christmas colors they may be, but they just...fit Jack. Like those colors were made for him. 

He looked down at his chest, seeing their 'fused' SOUL. Though by now, most would call it corrupted. Their SOUL was dripping, a sign of corruption in the Underground. There was a tiny crack from Jack's side after everything he went through, but something constantly dripped over it, nearly covering it. Mark loved the new look, just like he loved Jack's new attitude. Where he snapped, Mark didn't know. But Mark couldn't be happier. Jack may have thought their link was secure, but Mark could still hear those little doubts in Jack's mind about their plan. Now, Jack only thought of 'liberation' and Mark. 

Mark smiled at Jack, who was scrubbing his neck to get rid of blood.  _'My baby is so pretty,'_ he thought, seeing the water changing colors from all the blood. Gerson's shell lay nearby, ripped from the corpse and cleaned out for a makeshift shield. It had been Jack's idea after all.  _'And smart too.'_

Even from here, Mark could see Jack flush red. "Mark!" He shouted from the river, his neck now red from his blushing.

"I can't help it," Mark said aloud. "I have the best baby in the Underground, and in the world. Did I ever tell you that red was your color?" He was lucky that while Jack's personality remained mostly the same, Mark could see the insanity in the depths of Jack's eyes. On the outside, Jack seemed like his normal self, but on the inside, he and Mark were the same: monsters.

"Red is  _your_ color you dummy." Jack rolled his eyes. "I like green."

"To each his own," Mark said simply. He had already begun thinking of other things, like Jack doing something other than bathing while he was naked. And about their next move. Hotland shouldn't be far from here. The rest of the monsters should be with Alphys, and that would be an easy sweep.

"But we have time to kill," Mark said to himself. He stripped off his pants, the only article of clothing his put back on after he washed, and crept up behind Jack. The younger didn't sense anything, or maybe he was so used to Mark that he expected this, but he leaned into the embrace as Mark wrapped his arms around him. " _We_ have time to kill," he whispered to Jack. "What do you think we should do?"

Jack began grinding back against Mark. "Anything we want."

_'Absolutely anything,'_ Mark thought as Jack pulled him into a bruising kiss.  _'And once we're done here, we'll move to another world. And do anything we want their too. We'll move from world to world, and no one can stop us.'_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OUTLAST 2 CAME OUT A WHILE AGO! AND HOLY FUCK did the ending lose me. I was watching Jack play it and I had the idea of another story, only this one takes an Outlast spin. In this, which would again be Septiplier, Mark would be a Variant who goes by Darkiplier, and he's basically like Eddie Gluskin. He manages to capture Jack and almost succeeds with his plans (as the game does) but Jack is able to escape. However, at the end of the events of Outlast Whistleblower, Jack is at home looking over the news story he taped when Mark appears, telling Jack that leaving before their honeymoon was naughty for a wife to do to her husband. Then he implies that he killed Jack's family and kidnaps him and everything goes downhill from there...  
> If anyone would be interested in that, let me know. I might write up a little draft for it at the end of the next chapter so you guys would had a taste of what it would be like. I also shouldn't be starting new stuff by my mind is an enigma that won't stop writing up ideas.
> 
> I already anticipate some questions I might get due to the content in this chapter, so here are a few general questions I'm gonna go ahead and answer right now.
> 
> 1) Who is Trajan?  
> A: Trajan is the Underfell counterpart to Impact, who is a fanchild of Mettaton and Papyrus. I used M4dh4ttey266's design for Trajan, since I like her take on the fanchildren. 
> 
> 2) Why is Trajan in the story?  
> A: He might not seem like it, but Trajan will play a big part of this story later on. He does have a purpose, so don't think that he is used in place of making another character for Edge to have a heart-to-heart with.
> 
> 3) Wait, if Trajan exists, doesn't that mean that Impact should exist in the UT universe since they're counterparts?  
> A: Alternate timelines. The Underfell universe continued as it normally would, without a Human messing around in their world, with the original universe having been RESET. And thus, Mettaton and Papyrus aren't together, so Impact was never born. Trajan however, was born in the Fell universe because the timeline flowed normally.
> 
> 4) Is UT!Papyrus and UF!Mettaton going to become a thing? All the tag says is Papyrus/Mettaton.  
> A: No. That's not my plan for them. Because Edge is such an asshole and the Fell universe is so terrible to UF!Mettaton, UT!Papyrus is about the only person who genuinely cares and has shown UF!Mettaton that true compassion. Papyrus doesn't feel that way for UF!Mettaton.
> 
> 5) I don't ship Papyton, and/or don't like the idea of them having a child.  
> A: Click to another story then. I do have a plan for this story and all the characters in it.
> 
> 6) What's up with UF!Mettaton?  
> A: According to Fell Lore and the Wiki, Mettaton actually hates his body and what Alphys did to him. He was traumatized from the event and hates his EX form. It is implied that not only did Alphys force him into his body when he was still a ghost, but that she did horrible experiments to him and abused him, which is why he hates her and is slightly scared of her. The Underground hates his show as well, leaving Red and Trajan as the only dedicated fans.
> 
> 7) I thought Grillby was mute.  
> A: I explained earlier in the story that I see Grillby as just not liking to talk all that much, and that he became even more reclusive when Gaster disappeared. Now that the situation calls for it, he talks more, but only to keep everyone safe. His voice is Porokiin from pshattuckproductions. All the voices for the characters that I imagine are the voices dubbed by the talented people at pshattuckproductions. Except, the Sans I imagine is George Hoctor's old Sans voice.
> 
> 8) This mixed AUs thing seems weird.  
> A: Chara did say "There is nothing left for us here. Let us erase this pointless world and move onto the next." Maybe Mark shares that same belief. Maybe he doesn't want to end it where they are...Maybe Mark knows about these other worlds and wants to show them to Jack...
> 
> 9) *Insert name here* Seems out of character.  
> A: These characters prepared for a Human to arrive, just not one to be a murderous psychopath. Because they have to deal with something like this and Sans, Flowey, and Gaster are the only ones who know about the RESET, it is nearly impossible for them to know how to prepare. I'm trying to write them as close to canon as I can.
> 
> 10) Why are Mark and Jack so overpowered right now? Shouldn't they struggle somewhere?  
> A: Jack has been through this before, so he knows everyone's strengths and weaknesses. Mark on the other hand, is an entity they've never met before. 
> 
> 11) What about the other humans?  
> A: You'll just have to find out. Because while this story is mainly about Mark and Jack, there are still other characters involved, both human and monster...

**Author's Note:**

> Just in case anyone is confused, here are a few notes:
> 
> 1) Jack is seventeen. Everyone just keeps calling him 'kid' or 'child' because that's what Frisk is called throughout the game. He's not really a child or anything; he's a teen.
> 
> 2) Mark is supposed to be Chara, only he appeared to Jack in moments when Jack was doubting himself, starting when Jack was first neglected; the only reason he could speak in short phrases was because he still too weak due to Jack's will. When Jack fell deeper into his depression, Mark grew stronger. He only grew his semi-physical form when Jack gave into Mark's will of  favoring killing.
> 
> 3) Think of Mark and Jack like Yugi and Yami from Yu-Gi-Oh (if you've seen it). Jack is Yugi, or the host, while Yami is the spiritual form. Unlike Yami, Mark has to force his way into control, where Yami and Yugi could switch at will. Mark is stronger when Jack gives into him.
> 
> If there's anything else you're confused about, feel free to let me know and I'll explain.


End file.
